Savior's Calling
by slavetothepen
Summary: [UP FOR ADOPTION] In a world without Harry Potter, Voldemort reigns supreme while the Order tries to rebel against him. Desperate, the Order uses a dark and ancient spell to bring forth a hero. A hero who already defeated Voldemort. HP/DM SLASH
1. Chapter 1

_Hello everyone! I finally got going on my second story _Savior's Calling. _What's funny is that I was writing this story long before I started _New Leaf to Turn_. Don't worry, I'll still be writing _New Leaf to Turn, _but I did want to test the water's with this story as well. Since this story is a little more intense, I **definitely**__ won't be able to update everyday. I will however try to update every week or so (keyword try). But let me know what you all think of this Universe/Dimension hopping fic!_

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_IN A WORLD WITHOUT HARRY POTTER...

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_

If ever silence was threatening or menacing, it would have been deep in the dungeons of Castle Slytherin. The dungeons were once used as the common room and dormitories for the Slytherin house back when the castle was a school. But that was before the rise of the Serpent King. Now the dungeons, now known as the Adder's Lair, acted as an archive of all magic, kept away from anyone except the Kings followers. Shelves and shelves of books on runes, potions, curses and countless unknown magic filled the rooms that made up the Adder's Lair, most never seen by witch or wizard.

But at that moment, the Adder's Lair echoed with the sounds of footsteps and the occasional rustle of a cloak as a lone figure moved quickly through the aisles of lost magic. A pale hand gently brushed the spines of each book, muttering the titles under his breath as he quickly scanned each and every shelf. Finally the figure paused, almost stunned, just staring at a massive red tome. The faint glow from his wand cast an eerie glow onto the pale face of Draco Malfoy.

"By Merlin…It does exist…" The words fell from thin lips, his grey eyes fixed on the volume. After a moment of silence, the hand not holding his wand reached up and grabbed the text, pulling it from the shelf. Unfortunately, the volume weighed more than Draco's single hand could handle. Making a quick descent to the floor, the tome filled the Adder's Lair with a dull thud and caused several smaller books to fall from their perches on the higher shelves. Draco shielded himself as best he could from the rain of texts, but one particular leather-bound volume managed to catch his shoulder. Biting his lip in frustration, Draco gripped his sore shoulder.

"Damnit…of all the times to be clumsy…" But there was no time to waste cursing his own awkwardness, all the books that had fallen had to be put back into place, lest someone notice his presence there that night. As each book was placed back on the shelves, Draco's heart beat faster and harder, as though every moment wasted in that chamber could be the moment that could end his life. In a way, he was right. As he held the last book, that blasted leather-bound monstrosity, preparing to put it back in place, the doors to the Adder's Lair began to open. Draco began to panic, the book belonged on the top shelf, if he tried to put it back he could lose the precious time he needed to escape with the book he needed, making his mission absolutely pointless. But if he took it…

It was barely and instant before Draco made his decision, shoving the small text into an enchanted bag. The footsteps were getting closer, from what Draco could hear. Perhaps only four, maybe five aisles away from where he was hiding. The blonde's heart beat frantically in his chest as he tried to lift the book from the floor.

Three aisles. Draco struggled to hold the tome and open the enchanted bag. To his horror, the pale man discovered that the massive tome was larger than the mouth of the bad. Frantically, Draco tried to force the book into the bag.

Two aisles. The seam of the bag popped under the force of Draco's struggle, damaging the magic of the bag. But Draco was relieved to find that the book slid into the damaged bad. Unfortunately, while the bag would appear to be as empty as before, the damaged spell could no longer conceal the weight of the two books.

One aisle. With much effort, Draco was able to move the bag onto his shoulder, trying not to be effected by the extra weight. He had his prize, now all he had to do was escape. If only he could-

"Who goes there?" A harsh voice commanded Draco. Draco turned ever so slowly to face Deatheater, lowering his wand as he did so. The guard had his lit wand merely inches from Draco's face. With a sigh, Draco removed his hood.

"Could you get your filthy wand out of my face?" The blonde said with a sneer. The Deatheater seemed startled by Draco's bold statement.

"Young Lord!" The guard exclaimed, making a hasty bow. "What are you doing down in the Lair?"

Draco's eyes narrowed, "I don't believe that is any of your business what I do in this castle."

"Oh no! Of course not. I was just curious…"

"It is not your place to be curious."

"N-no it's not…"

"Good, now that that issue is settled, I have better things to do than waste my precious time blathering with you." Draco drawled, making his way out of the Adder's Lair. The blonde grit his teeth in effort to keep from showing the weighted of the stolen books.

To Draco's dismay, the Deatheater flunky followed him out into the hallways, "Young Lord, I should warn you that there has been a break-in and the intruder has yet to be caught."

'_Curses…'_ "And you expect me to be worried by this news?" Draco arched an eyebrow in mock amusement.

The guard quickly tried to amend his error, "No! I just thought that you should know…"

Draco let out a cruel laugh, making the harden Deatheater cringe, "Why don't you do something useful," The blonde sneered, "and focus on catching the intruder and stop following me like a lost puppy." With that, Draco turned and, leaving the Deatheater guard rooted on the spot, quickly made his war down the hall.

'_I have to get out of here fast!'_ Draco's heart was once again was racing as he turned the various corridors of Castle Slytherin, rushing to make his way to the main hall. '_It's only a matter of time before-'_

Draco's train of thought was abruptly stopped as he turned into the entry hall of Castle Slytherin, only to come face to face with none other than Draco Malfoy- the real Draco Malfoy.

Time seemed to stop as the two Draco's stared at each other, one dressed in the finest black robes with delicate silver trim and embroidery while the other wore a threadbare black cloak. One wore an emerald pendant around his neck, the other had a damaged bag hanging from his shoulder. One was Draco Malfoy, heir of the Serpent King, known to his enemies as The Taipan; but the other was an imposter, the intruder.

The observation felt like it lasted for an eternity although in the harsh reality of the imposter, all this information took only a moment to process. And it was in that next moment that both Draco's made their moves.

The princely Draco opened his mouth, "G-!"

"_Stupify!"_ In a flash of red, pampered heir fell stunned to the marble floor. The strict training and constant paranoia of the imposter had gained him precious time, time he intended on using to the fullest. The blonde prince had barely hit the floor before the intruder was running out of the massive double doors, clutching his stolen goods close to his chest. It was only a matter of time now, even if the heir hadn't been able to call the guards, the fact that he had been stunned would arouse alarm, and with the castle already on high alert, security would be much harder getting out than getting in. That is, if the fake Draco had planned on using the front gate.

The weight of the books was quickly tiring the imposter, but there was no time to try and rest. Already, he could hear the entire assembly of Deatheaters gathering to find him, some already on his trail. As if to confirm his suspicions, a flash of green whizzed past the intruders shoulder, illustrating just how close he was to death. But he couldn't worry about the spells being fired in his direction, all he could focus on was making it to his exit, one of the only things that not even the Serpent King had managed to destroy when he made Hogwarts Castle into Castle Slytherin.

He could see the branches of the willow as he turned the last turn, making a dead sprint to the tree despite the dead weight of his bounty. The Whomping Willow twitched, aware of the Chaos approaching it. If the willow so desired, it could easily kill the intruder as well as every Deatheater present with one bone crushing swing of any of its boughs. The fake Draco was quite aware of the tree's capabilities, but refused to let himself worry about that. He just needed to get to the tree. Less than 10 feet to go…

"_Avada Kedavra!"_ A voice behind him bellowed. The intruder knew he only had a split second to react, and he did. The spell hadn't even been completed before he made a mad lunge for the tree, or more importantly, the tunnel at the base of the tree.

The jump would have been good if it hadn't been for the massive weight of the stolen books. The intruder hit the ground with a sickening thud, but it was enough to avoid certain death and he was close enough to make a mad crawl into the tunnel as the killing curse hit the trunk of the willow. As the Draco imposter looked back towards the entrance to see if he had been followed, the sounds of chaos and the crunching of branches reached his ears.

Perfect.

Knowing that no one would be able to follow him, the fake Draco was able to move at a less urgent pace. His mission was still not complete, but at least he was out of immediate danger.

'_I wouldn't have even been in danger at all if I hadn't met the blasted Taipan…'_ The imposter winced as the strap to his bag cut into his shoulder, '_But it's alright…I got what I needed, now all I have to do is get it back to the others.'_

The tunnel led to a pile of rubble on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. In years previous, there had been a house standing in its place, but that had been many years ago, before the rise of the Serpent King. Now what was once a house was nothing more than a pile of broken wood and glass.

Pulling himself from the rubble, the rebel spy took a quick look around before breathing a sigh of relief. A breath breathed too soon, as not one, but two wands pointed at the blonde's throat.

"State your name." A hooded man demanded, pressing the tip of his wand to the fake Draco's Adams apple.

Surprisingly, instead of panicing, the rebel relaxed at the demand. Deatheaters would never ask a question before firing a curse, meaning these men were comrades.

"Mirage." The Draco imposter stated simply, looking up to the faces of the hooded men.

The other man only responded with another demand, "If you are Mirage, then drop your disguise."

The Draco imposter, otherwise known as Mirage, nodded as best he could. Soon the platinum blonde hair of the Taipan faded to a mousy brown, his sharp features became the softer features of a woman and the piecing gray eyes of the Serpent King's successor became dark. In short, Mirage was revealed to be not a him, but one Nymphadora Tonks.

"Am I allowed to ask who is meeting me here?" Tonks, Mirage, asked quietly as the wands were lowered from her throat.

"Eclipse."

"Prodigal."

The answers were short, but they told Mirage everything she needed to know as she stood up, clutching her bag close to her body.

"Did you get it?" Prodigal asked before he could help himself.

Eclipse was quick to shush his comrade, "Not here! We have to get back to Sweets before we can talk more." The other two rebels nodded in agreement as Eclipse's hand receded into the pocket of his cloak. As the hand returned into view, Prodigal and Mirage were able to see a single feather.

A phoenix feather.

"Take hold." The command was simple, but neither Mirage nor Prodigal said a word, only obeying Eclipse.

The three stood for almost a minute, just holding onto the feather. Not a word was shared, no movements were made, the three rebels just stood perfectly still, clinging to the feather, waiting.

Finally, as the third minute began to tick by, a familiar tug from behind each of their navels was felt and the rebels vanished from the pile of rubble.

[break]

Tonks hit the ground hard when they landed; thrown off by the heavy books she stole as she toppled sideways. She was only able to break her fall with one hand, afraid to let go of her precious cargo.

Eclipse knelt beside her, "Are you alright?"

Tonks nodded, "I will be once we get inside…come on." The only woman in the group made her way to the door of their hideout, Eclipse and Prodigal following close behind.

As the three stood in front of the massive wooden door, a feminine voice could be heard on the other side. A small peephole opened, and a single eye stared at the three of them.

"State your names." The demand was the same, and so were the answers.

"Mirage."

"Eclipse."

"Prodigal."

There was a long pause as the eye peered at each of them individually, trying to see if they were lying. Finding no fault in their answers, the eye asked them another question, "Now who am I?"

The three rebels standing at the door smiled, "You're Mama." They replied in almost unison.

The eye behind the door twinkled slightly before the peephole shut. After a few moments of locks clicking and handles turning, the door opened slowly to reveal a disheveled Molly Weasley, otherwise known as 'Mama'. "Well don't just stand out there you three, hurry in."

Tonks smiled softly at Molly. Even in the middle of a war, she could scold anyone for standing outside in the cold too long. The three were barely inside when Molly shut the door behind them, reactivating the wards.

Eclipse nodded to the Weasley witch, "Thank you Mama."

Molly rolled her eyes, "Really Remus, we're safe in here, you can just call me Molly for Merlin's sake."

Remus Lupin, codename Eclipse, removed his cloak, hanging it with the others, "My apologies Molly, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Prodigal nodded, "Not to sound rude or anything, but I want to hear about my cousin's happy adventure in Castle Slytherin."

Tonks hit her cousin in the shoulder, "Knock it off Sirius. You know we have to wait for Sweets before I say anything about my mission."

"Oh come off it Tonks, of course I know." Sirius Black, otherwise known as Prodigal, replied as he hung his cloak next to Remus'.

"You sure don't seem like it." A new voice added. The four in the entry way turned their attention to the man at the stairway.

Sirius chuckled, "You know I'm only playing James."

James Potter only nodded, his one good eye watching Tonks, "Sweets wants all of us in his study now."

Even Molly Weasley didn't argue as the five made their way up the stairs and into the largest room in their makeshift headquarters. As the newcomers entered the room, they saw that they were not the only ones that had been requested. The room was filled with people, men, women and even a few that some would have classified as children. Some were young, some were old, and some were terribly scared like James, whose left eye would be forever covered by a patch, while some looked like they had only just begun to fight. But regardless of who they were, they were all members of the Order of the Phoenix.

And all declared outlaws by the Serpent King.

At the center of the room, sitting in a ragged arm chair, sat none other than Albus Dumbledore, better known to Order members as 'Sweets'. He was by far the oldest among them (although no one would ever go so far as to ask him his age) and he was at the top of the Serpent King's wanted list.

So naturally he was their leader.

Tonks made her way towards Dumbledore, aware that all eyes were on her. She could see Sirius and Remus standing next to James, who had his arm around his wife Lily. Across from the Potters stood Frank and Alice Longbottom; and beside them stood the entire Weasley clan, excluding the younger children of course. Moody and Kingsley stood at Dumbledore's left and right hand, almost daring Tonks to be a traitor or spy.

But Tonks was neither, and she made that clear as she stood in front of Dumbledore, tired and shaken from her near death experience. Dumbledore gazed into Tonks' eyes, his once twinkling eyes now only searching. The younger rebel didn't fight the aged wizard's _Legilimency_, there would have been no point. Instead she let Dumbledore probe where he needed to.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Dumbledore's eyes began to twinkle again, "I'm glad you're safe Nymphadora." The old man steepled his fingers, "I trust you were able to recover the text?"

The young woman nodded, holding up her heavy burden, "Of course, but it wasn't easy."

"You weren't hurt were you?" Alice Longbottom said in alarm. Tonks shook her head.

"No, I was able to get away…but I did run into the Taipan." Tonks added this last bit of information reluctantly. The entire room soon was in a giant uproar, some amazed, some taken aback and some absolutely terrified.

Molly Weasley let out an exaggerated gasp, "Nymphadora! I _told _you it was too dangerous! Albus, how could you send her on such a terrible mission?"

Albus Dumbledore simply took the massive tome from Tonks' bag. The room began to quiet as the old man flipped through the crumbling yellow pages, "This, Molly, is why I sent Nymphadora into Castle Slytherin." With some effort, Dumbledore showed the text to the entire room.

It was an old spell to be sure. Hell, Tonk's didn't even understand a word of it, the entire text had been written in Latin. But she did see several complex looking diagrams, some with incantations and some without, but as to what it did, Tonk's had no idea.

James was the first to speak after Dumbledore unveiled the spell to the Order, his one eye staring at the spell, "Albus, I understand that you are very knowledgeable about spells and everything, but…how is this spell important to us?"

Albus Dumbledore stood, causing the entire assembly to take a step back, "My dear James, this spell could very well save us all."

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_There you have it! The first chapter of _Savior's Calling! _Please give me some imput. I will warn you in advance, there will be slash. Nothing heavy, just kissing at most. My "main" pairing will be Harry/Draco, but if any of you have and idea's for some secondary pairings, I'm willing to listen! Until next time!_

_slavetothepen  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_Well so much for me trying to update this weekly. Sorry about that to the few people reading this. I got a little caught up in finishing _New Leaf to Turn, _and I guess I just dropped the ball on this one. A few people pointed out that this fic is very familiar looking. I know this is a far cry from an original plot, I'm trying to put my own spin on things. I really got inspired to write my own fic after reading _Light in the Shadows _by_ A Brighter Dawn. _I probably won't be using the code names for the Order members as much, but I definitely will keep the snake themed nick names for the Deatheaters. Why? Because I liked the movie _Kill Bill. _Now that I'm done ranting, here it is, after so freakin' long, chapter 2 of _Savior's Calling.

_ps: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, Dumbledore wouldn't have been the only one that was gay (and yes, he was, look it up)_

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_Ug, why does the sun rise so early?_ Harry Potter groaned, trying to shield his eyes from the offending sunlight.

What Harry didn't know was that it was actually almost noon and he had slept almost half of the day away. But to his credit, Harry's bedroom window did face east, insuring the sunrise would wake him up if he didn't shut his blinds.

What Harry must have forgotten was the fact that he had fallen asleep on his living room couch. But he quickly remembered this when he rolled over, only to fall onto the hardwood floor.

"Ug…." Harry groaned, groping for his glasses. Said glasses had somehow made their way across the living room and were on the mantle above the fireplace, making it very difficult for Harry to fine them. By the time he finally was able to locate his glasses, it was past noon, which Harry finally was able to notice once he could see.

"Damn, I didn't think I slept that long." The savior of the wizarding world muttered as he made his way to his room to put on a fresh change of clothes, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He could remember that there had been a time when his home at 12 Grimmauld Place had been used as a hideout during a time of war.

Despite the bad memories, Harry couldn't help but smile at the thought of all of the adventures he had.

Adventure had always been a part of Harry's life, even before he discovered he was a wizard. Of course, at the time he hadn't thought that running away from Dudley and his gang had been much of an adventure, but as he looked back on it, he could think fondly of all the fences he jumped and all the trees he climbed.

Then he had learned that he was a wizard. That in itself had been an adventure, with meeting Hagrid and shopping on Diagon Alley. But even after he arrived at Hogwarts, life was full of adventures. After all, how many 11 year olds could say that they defeated a mountain troll, became the youngest seeker in the century and managed to successfully navigate through challenges designed by people more than four times his age and then foil the plot of the most evil wizard in history?

And that was only the beginning. At 12 he not only slayed a basilisk, but also destroyed his first horcrux. He celebrated being 13 by helping a convicted felon escape as well as fight off hordes of Dementors. Definitely not a typical way to spend your first few years in school.

Of course, things got a lot more serious when he was 14. Sure being the youngest competitor and eventual winner of the Tri Wizard Tournament was impressive, but it was also the year that he watched a fellow student die in front of him shortly before the most evil wizard of all time decided to make a comeback. That year did not end on a high note. His year as a 15 year old hadn't been much better, with the wizarding world suddenly deciding that they thought he was an attention whore, almost being expelled from the one place he called home, a nasty toad witch with a vendetta against anyone with morals, and of course the loss of his godfather…worst year ever.

Then his last year spent at Hogwarts had been spent dividing his attention between Malfoy's antics, Ron and Hermione's antics, Dumbledore's antics with memories and Deatheater antics. Ultimately, the Deatheater's antics caused the death of Dumbledoor as well as chaos at Hogwarts, which had been considered the last stronghold against Voldemort.

Harry hadn't even been able to celebrate turning 17 properly, being the target of Voldemort's manhunt. Even when he tried to attend a wedding like a normal person, Voldemort decided to take over the ministry, forcing Harry, Ron and Hermione to spend the entire year searching for pieces of Voldemort's soul and destroying them. The trio hadn't even been done with this before a massive battle at Hogwarts erupted, causing everyone to show their true colors, like Neville, who managed to prove to everyone present that he deserved to be in Gryffindor house. And of course, everything boiled down to Harry and Voldemort fighting one on one against each other, and Harry made history (again, but everyone had lost count of how many times the boy made history at this point) by defeating the darkest wizard of the modern age with a simple _Expelliarmus._

Yes, now the wizarding world was safe at last. Hogwarts had been restored with several memorials (and one God awful statue of Harry standing over Voldemort) and the rest of the Deatheaters had either been killed or captured. Finally, life was safe, life was peaceful, life was calm.

Life was boring.

To give Harry credit, he had tried to find a life after the war. He did join the aurors for a trial run (they conveniently forgot he never graduated), but…once you defeat the Dark Lord with the simplest spell in the spell book, dark wizards rarely put up a fight. Once, Harry had tried to conduct his own interrogation, but the supposed dark wizard burst into tears at the sight of the young hero. Most of what Harry did was paper work, which was the last thing he wanted.

So Harry spent most of his days sleeping, visiting friends, and then going back to his house to sleep more. As Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he glanced at the clock on the wall.

"2:30…sounds like a good time for a drink to me." Harry mumbled, pulling on a clean shirt before checking his appearance in the mirror. Messy black hair? Check. Pale skin? Check. Glasses and green eyes? Check. Scar?

_Check._

_

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_

Luckily for Harry, 2:30 was the Leaky Cauldron's slow time. There was hardly anyone in the dark pub, which meant that there was no one to point and stare or to ask for autographs or pictures. Not that Harry minded signing a picture for a child or shaking a few peoples' hands, but at the moment, he just wanted some peace, quiet, and a tall mug of Butterbeer.

Even though Harry had more adventure in his first 17 years of life than most people could ever hope to achieve, he still thrived for more. Hermione had called it an adrenalin addiction, but Harry just called it a want of adventure. In fact, the only time he enjoyed the peace was when he was sleeping in his own bed and when he was drinking. There was just something about having a drink and no one bothering you for hero stories…

Harry was surprised when a wizard sat next to him, with all the room at the bar open. But then Harry recognized the light blonde hair.

"Like to drink on the off hours do you, Potter?" Draco Malfoy asked casually, his greeting holding none of the bite it would have had they been in Hogwarts. Now, it was just a normal greeting.

Harry nodded, "I wouldn't have thought you would have been a big fan of the Leaky Cauldron for your drinking Malfoy."

The blonde gave a nonchalant shrug, "You aren't the only one who doesn't want to be stared at all the time."

Harry was still unsure of what to think of Draco. On one hand, he had been a royal pain in the ass almost all of his years of Hogwarts and had resulted in Deatheaters taking over Hogwarts near the end of their years. Definitely not a way to get onto Harry's good side.

But on the other hand, the blond had only been guilty of being a brat during Hogwarts, and there were worse traits than that. And Draco had only done what Voldemort asked because he feared for his family.

Harry had figured out during the battle that the Malfoys' allegiance lay not with Voldemort, but with the safety of their family. They pureblooded family was Slytherin in the purest sense, in the sense that they were cunning and had a strong sense of self preservation.

It had been a surprise at first to Harry when Draco tried to stop his friends from attacking Harry and his friends. Harry had been more surprised when Narcissa Malfoy lied to Voldemort's face for a chance to see her son was safe. Most women, or men for that matter, would have never dared lie to Voldemort, but to Narcissa Malfoy, her little boy was worth the risk.

"I suppose you're right." Harry muttered, taking a swig of his Butterbeer. Draco gave a small nod before ordering a Butterbeer for himself. For some reason, this surprised Harry. Maybe it was years of seeing Draco act like a spoiled brat that liked expensive things, but Harry would have never imagined Draco drinking Butterbeer in a dark Pub at 2:30 in the afternoon. Maybe the war had humbled Draco…no, there was no maybe to that statement. Draco Malfoy was almost a different man from the boy Harry knew in his Hogwarts years.

But as Draco took the first sip of Butterbeer, Harry could see a thin silver bracelet that was wrapped tightly around the blonde's wrist.

After the war, Harry had personally testified for Draco and Narcissa (there hadn't been much that could have helped Lucius, but the man accepted his fate with grace). When Draco had been on trail for the murder of Albus Dumbledore, Harry had shown everyone his memory of that night, much to the shock of Draco and Narcissa. That, along with Harry's testimony that Narcissa had aided him the night of the battle, had insured that both Malfoy's would escape Askaban.

Unfortunately, there had been nothing Harry could have done to save Narcissa and Draco's wands. The ministry had declared that although they were innocent, there were still considered dangerous (much to the frustration of Harry). Now, both Malfoys wore enchanted bracelets that would prevent them from ever using wands again.

"Still enjoying the quiet life Potter?" The blonde asked, setting his mug down. Due to the mug being overly full to begin with, some of the Butterbeer had sloshed out onto the bar. After a quick look around, Draco waved his hand over the mess, "_Scourgify._"

"Not as much as I had hoped," Harry replied honestly as the spilled Butterbeer cleaned itself from the counter at Draco's command.

The Ministry hadn't said anything about the Malfoys using wandless magic.

Harry couldn't help but smile at the memory of the first time he had offered to teach Draco wandless magic. The blonde had been wary of Harry after he had testified for Draco and his mother, and was less than eager to admit that Harry could help him…again. But after quite a few persistent visits, Harry had convinced Draco to learn wandless magic. Harry's argument had been that even if Draco didn't use the magic every day, he could now have the ability to protect his mother in case a vigilante ever decided the Malfoys hadn't been punished enough.

Harry's smile faded slightly. He wished he could say that he had wanted to teach Draco because it was the right thing to do or that he felt they had been unjustly served. In reality, Harry had simply been bored, and teaching his onetime school rival how to use wandless magic had been, at the very least, amusing.

"The quiet life has always been over rated." Draco said casually, drinking his Butterbeer.

How right he was.

* * *

It was late when Harry finally made it back home. Draco was a surprisingly good conversationalist over a round of Butterbeers. And Draco didn't have a significant other to bicker with constantly.

Not that Harry couldn't stand Ron and Hermione, he loved them like a brother and sister. But too much of a good thing would most definitely make any of them sick. Sometimes Harry knew that the blossoming couple needed their space.

And now the bachelor was on his own, looking for something to do. He had just been drinking, and it was too early to go to sleep.

That's when Harry spied his father's Invisibility Cloak hanging on the coat rack. The young hero could feel a smile spread across his face at the memories he had with that cloak at Hogwarts.

Hogwarts…

That's what he could do. Hermione had told Harry that there were a lot of changes that had occurred when Hogwarts had been rebuilt, which meant a lot of new and different secret passages ways, each with different passwords and openings.

Harry's smile turned into a full blown grin as he raced up to his room to fetch the Marauder's Map from his bed side table. He couldn't even remember a time after the war that he had been so excited.

Harry tucked the map in his coat pocket for safekeeping, _Off for my own adventure for the night_, He mused as he threw the cloak around himself, eager for his next adventure.

* * *

_Yes, I know there isn't much plot right now. I'm working on developing my character backgrounds right now. And yes, there will be eventual slash. I still would like feedback on your favorite slash pairings (my main pairing will still be Harry/Draco, but other than that, I'm open to _almost_ anything)._

_Reviews are my crack._

_slavetothepen  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_Weee! I'm back! Sorry I took so long (maybe it wasn't that long to you, but this chapter too me forever to write!). I had some great reviews (actually they were all great lol). I hope you enjoy chapter 3 of _Savior's Calling!

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The entire room stood in silence after hearing Dumbledore speak, just staring at the aged pages of the tome. The thought of a single spell saving them all, ending the war, defeating Voldemort, destroying the reign that he had instilled on the wizarding world…was incredible.

Finally, Frank Longbottom broke the silence, "That almost sounds too good to be true…what kind of spell could do such a thing?"

Dumbledore set the massive book on the desk behind him before facing his audience again, "To be…well, frank, it is a very old spell. Even older than myself, if one could believe it. The spells creation dates back to before the excessive use of wands, back when incantations needed to be paired with difficult arrays."

The old wizard paused, waiting for a question. Of course, no one dared to interrupt until he was done, "This particular spell is special because it is not limited to this world."

At this, there were a few looks shared amongst the Order members, coaxing murmurs to ripple throughout the crowd.

"Surely you don't mean to tell us -"

"I do mean to tell you, if you would let me James," Dumbledore said patiently, his voice keeping an even tone, "There are other worlds and timelines than this current one. Our world and our time is just one of infinite timelines, and no two worlds are the same. Some worlds could so vastly different they are past the point of recognition. Some worlds could possibly be altered by a single decision. But if there are worlds that differ from ours, we must hope that this war has gone differently there."

James opened his mouth to interrupt once more, but a sharp elbow into his ribcage, delivered by his wife, made him hold his tongue.

"If there is a chance that this war has ended differently, then there is a chance, hopefully, somewhere in the endless possibilities of timelines, there is one who has defeated Voldemort-" As Dumbledore said the name of their enemy, there was not a single shudder or cringe, but several clenched fists, "One who has destroyed the evil that has plagued us, one who can be our savior…that is what this spell does."

Silence once again filled the room as Dumbledore finished speaking, each member of the Order thinking of the possibilities that could happen with the spell that lay open on the desk. Alice Longbottom took hold of her husband's hand while James wrapped his arm around Lily, both couples taking comfort in each other.

"We should get started immediately then," Kingsley stated strongly as he moved to the desk to look at the spell.

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, I agree completely, but in order to complete the array, we will need the largest room we can get…and for us, that would be the basement."

With this, the old wizard sent a pointed look towards one Remus Lupin, who nodded. "Of course, I won't be needing the basement for another three weeks." The aging werewolf eagerly supplied, "We could move the cage out of there for the spell."

There was a twinkle in Dumbledore's eye that seemed brighter than the old man's eyes had been in a long time, "Splendid, I'm sure if everyone assists, it won't take long to prepare at all."

Everyone in the Order nodded, eagerly setting out to work on clearing out the basement.

"Ah, Lily…could you wait a moment?"

At this, Lily Potter turned to face Dumbledore. James looked reluctant to leave his wife, but the auburn haired woman gave her husband a small smile and the man's unease of letting his wife out of his sights were abated.

Once they were alone, Lily waited a few moments before speaking, "You wanted to speak with me sir?"

"Yes Lily, I did." Dumbledore laid a hand on the spell everyone was so eager to perform, "I want you to see to the execution of this spell."

The redhead tried to hide her surprise, "But sir, shouldn't you be the one in charge?"

Dumbledore chuckled quietly, "Lily, you have already proved to have an innate knowledge of spells and latin, plus you have an uncanny attention to detail, both qualities that I need for this spell to go off perfectly. Can I trust you with this Lily?"

Lily Potter took a deep breath in, "You can count on me sir."

* * *

"Do you really think that this spell could really end the war?" Sirius asked as the Order began to dismantle the iron cage that would contain Remus every month during his transformations.

James shrugged, "Dumbledore seems to think that it'll work, and he hasn't given us any reason doubt him yet."

It seemed like the entire Order was in the dark basement trying to clear everything out to make room for the array that could possibly end the war for them. Even the younger Weasleys were doing whatever they could, carrying away whatever they could get their hands on. No one dared to use magic to clear the room because of the affect the magic could have on the spell that they were about to perform. Everyone was abuzz with the hope of peace. The thought of the war ending was causing quite a few members to begin dreaming of what their lives would be like after the war.

Frank and Alice were quietly clearing off the potion's desk in the room, making sure not to break or damage any of the precious ingredients.

"…I almost don't want to hope that this war could be over." Alice whispered, holding a phial of monkswood carefully, "I don't want to be disappointed…"

Frank gently kissed the top of her head, "Hope is all we have Alice." He smiled softly as he cleared off all the papers on the desk.

Alice sighed as the couple worked together to lift the heavy desk, "You're right, Frank."

But as they made their way out of the basement, Alice paused, looking down at her hands, "We could have a family again…"

Frank fell silent for a while, holding his end of the desk, "…Yeah…we could."

The two stood for a moment before silently deciding to continue their work, carrying out the desk from the room, walking past James as he worked on dismantling the iron cage.

James' one eye followed the Longbottoms as they made their way out of the room, his heart going out to the grieving couple. Even though the war had affected all of them, to James, the Longbottoms had suffered much worse than any of the rest of the Order. Not only were Frank and Alice hiding with the rest of them because they were outlaws, but they had also been forced to bury their only son when he was only a child. The murder of Neville was the epitome of the Serpent King's cruelty, because the infant's death was nothing more than sadistic maniac killing a little boy in his crib. James couldn't possibly imagine the pain one would have to lose a child, he would rather die before seeing his baby in a coffin. It was then that James was glad that he and Lily had decided to wait until after the war to start a family…

"James!"

The one eyed man blinked, caught off guard. Remus was waiting for James to finish taking apart his part of the cage.

"Did you fall asleep standing up?" The werewolf asked, raising an eyebrow at his usually alert friend.

James shook his head, "Just lost in thought."

Beside Remus, Sirius laughed, "Careful James, or you might not be able to find your way back."

Remus sighed as James rolled his one eye, "Come on you big oaf, we have work to finish."

Sirius gave one last laugh as the three friends carried the pieces of the iron cage from the basement.

* * *

Every little detail had to be perfect, Lily decided. That was why she only trusted herself to draw the array in the basement. There were just too many things that could go wrong if there were too many hands drawing, and that was just something that Lily couldn't risk. There was too much at stake to risk by letting the entire Order try and help.

As Lily carefully drug her brush across the floor, she made sure to double and triple check with the array in the massive volume. There were so many fine details; it was no wonder Dumbledore had asked her to be in charge of the spell. It seemed like every time she made brushstroke, there were five other details that needed to be tended to. The task could have easily frustrated anyone, but Lily simply did the work that had been given to her, taking pride in everything she did.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Lily sat with the tome in the center of the array while the ink dried. It was odd, while the array was very intricate and covered much of the basement floor, and yet there was a large center piece that was completely blank. It was almost the like the eye of a storm…

Lily sighed, going back to studying the ancient text. It had taken her a while to translate the text, but now she understood the gist of the spell, even if she was wary of the spell's nature. Lily almost wanted to ask Dumbledore how he had heard of such a spell, but…

There was no doubt about it, the spell was dark magic. Even in her years at Hogwarts, Lily had never come across a spell that demanded its performance to be done at midnight, let alone one that required an array as large as the one that Lily had slaved over. And now Lily couldn't help but shudder as she looked at the sinister black ink that surrounded her. Of course, it could have very well have been the cold basement that had caused her to shake.

But Lily soon realized that with the ink still drying and no way to move without ruining all the work that she had done, she would be forced to stay in the center point of the spell, perhaps for the rest of the night. With a weary sigh, Lily turned the page of the old spell, reading the yellowing pages carefully for any details that she may have missed. Her tired eyes scanned each line of the text…

And saw something that eliminated any doubt in her mind that the spell was dark magic.

'_No…Dumbledore couldn't possibly allow this…could he?'_

* * *

Sirius Black was no stranger to evil magic. Afterall, he was the prodigal son of the infamous Deatheater family, being the only Black to turn his back on the Serpent King. But even though he had no alliances with his family, he had still grown up with them, which meant that he had grown up with black magic…no pun intended.

And as Sirius made his way into the basement with the rest of the Order, he could already tell that this spell was as dark as they came.

Lily must have realized it also, seeing that she was clutching the heavy tome so tightly that her knuckles were stark white.

"Well done Lily," Dumbledore commented as he admired Lily's handywork, "I can see that I was right to trust this task to you. The array is flawless."

Lily, on the other hand, didn't smile at Dumbledore's praise, "Sir…"

Sirius could see Lily's unease, even if Dumbledore could not. Or maybe he could see it…he was just ignoring the woman's concerned look.

"This spell should go perfectly, everything is in order…"

"But that's just it sir, not everything is in order." Lily said quietly, trying to keep the conversation between herself and Dumbledore. But luckily for Sirius, there were perks to being an Animagus. One of which being that he had incredible hearing.

Dumbledore perked an eyebrow, "Oh? What else do you need Lily? I'm sure we can find what is required for such an important spell."

Lily looked down, gripping the book tighter to keep from shaking as she whispered something.

"Come again Lily? I do believe I've gone deaf in this ear."

Lily repeated what she said, still unable to make herself audible.

"Once more."

Poor Lily tried her best to keep her voice down, but still tell Dumbledore what was so important.

"Please speak up Lily, I just can't-"

"IT'S BLOOD! THE SPELL NEEDS HUMAN BLOOD!" All eyes turned to Lily as she covered her mouth, horrified that she had just announced that they would need a human sacrifice.

"Blood?" Remus looked dumbfounded. Not that Sirius blamed him; he was just as unnerved as the rest of the Order (with the exception of Moody, who simply grunted at the announcement).

Lily nodded slowly, pointed to the centerpiece of the spell, "This entire space needs to be filled with human blood. The blood…the blood acts as a catalyst…it'll tie our world to the world we need to reach."

Charlie Weasley looked at the ring in the center of the room, "It can't be too hard to coat that area in blood, we wouldn't even have to kill anyone."

"That's not all," Lily warned, "If this spell goes wrong…the one whose blood was used…will…well, they'll die…"

At that, everyone, even Moody, sobered up. A heavy silence hung in the cold basement, each person looking at their neighbor, wondering who would be brave enough to…

"I'll do it."

All heads turned to look at James as he made his way to the center of the room, "This war has been going on long enough. I've been risking my life every day to stop this monster, tonight will be no different."

Lily looked horrified, "James, no! If this spell goes wrong-"

James placed a finger on her lips, "It won't go wrong Lily, you made it remember? And if there's something you were always good at, it was perfection." The one eyed man gave his wife a small smile before kissing her forehead, "I have nothing to worry about."

Dumbledore nodded, "Very well James. Let's begin."

Sirius was shaking his head, "You always were off your rocker, Prongs."

This only caused James to smile, "Shut up and hand me your knife, Padfoot."

The two friends shared one last smile before Sirius handed James his trusty knife before standing beside Remus, who looked nervous.

James stood in the center of the room with Lily, who forced herself to look at the floor as James drug the blade across his arm. The entire Order watched in morbid fascination as James blood hit the stone floor while his wife knelt and began to spread it throughout the centerpiece.

It soon became obvious that they had underestimated how much blood would be needed to fill the focal point of the spell. James had actually needed to cut his arm again because the first wound had clotted. Lily was almost done painting the floor with James' blood when Sirius noticed James beginning to sway. He made to catch his friend, but the oldest Weasley boys beat him to the punch, keeping James steady as the last few drops of blood had hit the floor.

"Take James upstairs boys, and see to his wounds." Dumbledore commanded, even though the boys were already halfway out of the basement by the time the words had left his mouth.

Lily was trying to keep herself from crying as she stood, "It's done."

Dumbledore nodded, taking the large text from Lily. The red haired woman quickly made her way to Sirius and Remus, who tried their best to comfort her as Dumbledore began the ritual.

Sirius couldn't understand the Latin that Dumbledore was chanting, only that it whatever it was, it was having a dramatic effect on everyone. The candles that everyone had to keep the basement lit were blown out, as if by some mighty wind. Everyone stood in the cold, dark basement, unsure of what would happen next.

Then the room burst into a tremendous light from the array, the black ink used to incarnate it was now shining brilliantly, giving Dumbledore the light he needed to continue chanting. Sirius couldn't take his eyes off the glowing array that surrounded his best friend's blood, only to gasp as the blood began to ripple and swirl. James' blood began to twist and rise from the stone floor as Dumbledore's chanting reached its climax. With one final shout, Dumbledore waved his hands over the blood and the glowing array.

A shockwave ripped through the basement, causing the entire Order of the Phoenix to be slammed against the walls. The glowing array now was a blinding light, too bright for Sirius to see as he covered his eyes, not sure when the spell would be over.

It seemed like an eternity before everyone managed to catch their breaths as the light dimmed. Sirius' heart was pounding in his chest faster than a rabbit's. Had it worked? Were they saved?

But as quickly as his heart was beating, the Animagus' blood ran cold as he looked to the center of the array.

At James' disembodied head.

* * *

_Oh snap! I gave you guys a cliffhanger! Please don't kidnap my cat, I'm still trying to get her back from the _New Leaf to Turn _fans! Just so you know, I did start work, so my updates may not be as fast as you may like, Sorry!  
_

_I've gotten a lot of good responses, but it seems that there's a tie in who Remus should end up with. Some of you want him with Tonks while others want him with Sirius (man, who knew Remus was such a pimp?). So you gotta help me decide who gets the werewolf! And don't think that can be the only pairing! If you've got a pairing that you want to see, let me know (even if it's with Snape...that's how much I love you guys.)_

_Question: Which Draco do you think Harry should end up with: the Taipan or the new modest Draco?_

_Until next time!_

_slavetothepen  
_


	4. Chapter 4

_Man, I didn't think this chapter would be that hard to write...I blame work. It's hard being a lifeguard by day, author by night lol. But some of you did comment about how gory this story is getting. I guess I should start posting warnings at the beginings of my chapters...uh, warning: contains slash in later chapters? And slight mention of blood in this chapter. I hope you enjoy chapter 4 of _Savior's Calling!

* * *

Sirius couldn't take his eyes from James' head in the center of the room, torn between horror and dismay.

_James…_

"JAMES!" Sirius could hear Lily scream hysterically. It took both Sirius and Remus holding onto her to keep Lily from throwing herself at the disembodied head. Lily's hysterical Screams soon died into strangled sobs as the red haired woman sagged in Sirius' arms.

"James…"

"What?"

The entire Order turned at the sound of the new voice. James Potter stood at the top of the basement stairs, Bill and Charlie Weasley rushing to catch up with him.

"James, you really should be resting…"

"Oh hush Charlie. Maybe when you're married, you'll understand that it's never a good thing when your wife is screaming your name and you're not there."

Sirius couldn't help but smirk. Even after all these years, James was still completely obsessed with Lily. Sirius was so deep in thought that he failed to notice said redhead had freed herself from his arms and made a mad dash for James.

"James!"

The one eyed man nearly lost his balance as his wife threw herself into his arms. "Lily, what's wrong? Is everyone alright? No one was hurt, were they?"

Lily was unable to say a word to her husband as she sobbed. Concerned, James turned his attention to the rest of the Order, his one eye looking from one face to the next: from Frank to Alice to Molly to Arthur to the rest of the Weasleys to Moody to Kingsley to Remus and Sirius to Dumbledore…

To the head on the floor.

"…What is that?" James made his way down the stairs with Lily, his eye staring at the head.

Lily sniffled, "I thought…I thought the spell had gone wrong…I thought you were dead."

"Well obviously, I'm not dead" James muttered, "Then what…"

For a while, no one said anything, they only stared at the center of the black array.

Finally, Dumbledore broke the silence, "It would seem that our savior, the one who has defeated the Serpent King, was you James." The old man made his way to James' head.

"But why-" Lily whispered, "Why is there only…only his head?"

Sirius couldn't help but wonder the same thing, staring at his friend's head on the floor. It certainly looked like James, only James could have jet black hair that unruly. The small glasses that had been knocked askew were almost identical to the ones that James had worn when he was a student at Hogwarts. But Sirius noticed that although there were similarities between the real James and the bodyless head, there were also vast differences. The head on the floor clearly had two eyes, and his hair was still an inky black, whereas James' hair had begun to gray at the temple. And while James had several scars from his years of fighting, the head on the floor still had a youthful appearance; his face was smoother, free of wrinkles or scarring.

With the exception of a single, lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead…

"Where is the rest of his neck?" Alice asked quietly.

It was then that Sirius first took a good look at the end of the disembodied head, and was shocked. There was no blood, no sinew, no bone…no anything. The end of his neck wasn't even there, like…

"It's invisible." Remus whispered, causing Sirius to start. Now that he thought about it, Sirius could remember the years of his youth when James had his Invisibility Cloak and Sirius could now remember the way that the cloak concealed.

Dumbledore heard Remus' conclusion and, after taking another look at the head on the floor, knelt in the center of the array, in the center of James' blood. The entire Order watched as the older man laid his hand on where the neck ended, and, after grabbing a fistful of what appeared to be nothing, began to pull away from the neck. Sirius had to stop himself from gasping as the rest of the neck was revealed, followed by a pair of strong shoulders and a slim torso and slender limbs.

If Sirius hadn't known better, he would have said that it was James from his Hogwarts years. But then again, what made him think that he _did_ know better?

"…It worked…" Even though Lily had barely spoken over a whisper, the entire Order heard her, and Sirius for one felt his heart jump for joy. The spell had worked; they had successfully summoned their savior. _James…_

Dumbledore stood slowly, clutching the Invisibility Cloak, "There is hope for us after all…"

Sirius nodded slightly. It was unnerving to see such a young looking James, and one that seemed to be doing well off by the looks of things. How long had it been since James had worn robes that fine? Sure, they weren't dress robes, but the James on the floor obviously wasn't forced to wear threadbare robes and worn in shoes. There was something soothing about the fact that his friend wasn't in poverty.

"What now?" Tonks whispered.

The awe that had descended on the room suddenly ran cold. What _were _they going to do now? Yes, they had summoned one who had defeated the Serpent King, but would he help them? Would he even want to fight again? Would he even be able to help them, or was his war too different for him to even be of any use?

The Order stood in silence. What now?

* * *

'_Whoa…what happened last night?' _Harry felt as if his head had been pummeled with a rogue bludger. It was odd; he knew he hadn't been able to drink enough to cause such a wretched hangover. Then…

"For now, Nymphadora, we will have to wait until he wakes. Afterall, he is the one who will know what to do."

'_Nymphadora? Tonks?'_ Harry felt his heart drop into his stomach. He knew that voice…but he also knew that he shouldn't be hearing it. And he _definitely _shouldn't be talking to _Tonks._

Dead people don't…well they shouldn't normally talk.

Not to each other…

"But he's so young…"

Harry's heart fully stopped when he heard Sirius speak. It had been so long since he had heard his godfather's voice…alive at least.

'_Sirius…Dumbledore….Tonks?' _Harry decided to take a gamble and open his eyes. He appeared to be in a poorly lit basement, on the floor to be exact…and he seemed to be laying in something wet…_odd_.

The only source of light came from a single _lumos_ held by…Dumbledore? No, it couldn't possibly be. It was one thing to hear his voice, but to see him…and Sirius…and Remus and Tonks…and Moody…and the Longbottoms, lucid at last…and…

It couldn't possibly be Lily and James Potter standing next to Sirius…which only meant one thing.

Harry had finally lost it.

_

* * *

_

"You let them escape?"

"Your majesty please understand-"

"I understand completely: you let those blasted outlaws into my house and they hurt my precious heir." The red eyes of the Serpent King narrowed as he glared at one of his underlings, one hand gently caressing the head of the Taipan, his own heir, who was seated at his feet.

"But sir-"

"Do not contradict me." The King hissed, raising his wand.

"N-no, sir, please!"

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

Pitiful. Absolutely pitiful. The Serpent King scoffed at the man's dead body as Nagini began to feast. How stupid could he have been to allow those rebels into the castle? But at least nothing…important was hurt. The Dark Lord looked down at his young heir. Yes…nothing important was hurt. Then why…?

A surge of power rippled through the castle, causing several expensive trinkets to break and torches to go out. Apparently whatever the rebels had come for, they had found it…but Tom Riddle couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction as he felt the familiar sensation of dark magic whisp around him. So the Order was resorting to dark magic? How desperate.

"What was that?" Draco inquired, his brow furrowed. Tom smoothed the young man's wrinkled forehead, chuckling.

"This game has just become…interesting."

_

* * *

_

Remus was still having trouble believing that this younger James could save their world…hell Remus even doubted that he would even want to. Why would anyone want to fight another war when they had just won their own? Maybe Remus was thinking too rationally for his own good but…what if all of this was for nothing? Was it even fair to tear this boy away from his friends? His own Lily back in his own world? What about his own family…suddenly Remus didn't feel like this spell was worth such the trouble.

"But he's so young…" He heard Sirius say, and Remus couldn't help but agree. The boy didn't even look like he was out of Hogwarts…if was even there in his world. The werewolf stole a glance at his animagus friend, who was staring at Dumbledore cautiously. Remus missed the days when Sirius' biggest concern was how to torment Snivellus or how to sneak in firewhiskey into the Gryffindor common room…he missed the days where his own biggest concern was his schoolboy crush on his friend…now everyone's biggest concern was just making it to wake up each morning…

Sirius cast a glance at Remus, "Do you think this will work?"

Remus knew better than to lie to his friend, "No…" Lily shot Remus a knowing look. Remus wasn't trying to be a pessimist…he was just too logical for his own good.

"_Look…"_ Percy Weasley whispered, pointing to the younger James on the floor. The entire Order looked and saw that the new James had opened his eyes and was staring blankly at the ceiling.

Dumbledore quickly made his way to their savior, everyone else watching intently.

"My boy, are you alright?" The old wizard asked. Remus watched as James' younger twin lifted his hand to his face, staring at the blood covered mess.

"No professor…I think I've finally died."

* * *

_Teehee, silly Harry. I hope you liked this chapter! And for those of you wondering, Canonverse people won't be ignored, which brings me to the question of the update (more like questions)_

_Who would you pair with the following people?_

_Neville (canon, because the other one's dead)x?_

_Ron (darkverse, cause canon is with Hermione)x?_

_Percyx?_

_Those are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head, but I love hearing what you guys think of pairings (I am a bit more of a slash fan, but I'm not a het hater)_

_Have fun answering! Until next time!_

_slavetothepen  
_


	5. Chapter 5

_I'm so sorry it took me so long to post this! I would say that I wanted to wait until I had 100 reviews or that I wanted this to be a 4th of July special (sorry all my foreign readers who don't understand the importance of the date), but to be honest, I just got caught up with life. But I hope you can forgive me, I did make this chapter a bit on the longer side, so maybe that can make you a little happy. And for all those who were concerned about all the pairing questions I was asking, I won't be making everyone in this story gay. I do like my slash as much as the next fangirl, but honestly, this is an adventure story. I think that's all I have to say at the moment, so here we go, chapter 5 of _Savior's Calling!

* * *

"Harry? Harry?" Andromeda Tonks sighed as she knocked on the front door to 12 Grimmauld Place, her arms aching from the heavy bag on her arm.

"Nyaha!"

Oh, and the infant that was squirming in her other arm didn't help at all either.

"Teddy, please stop your fussing. You'll see Uncle Harry soon…" With another sigh, Andromeda knocked frantically on the front door.

'_It's times like this that I wish Harry would just keep his Floo connection open…Stupid boy is probably dead asleep by now…'_ Andromeda tried to keep her frustrations at bay as she pulled out her wand, "_Alohomora!"_

Nothing. No spark or flash, no click of the lock coming undone. Nothing.

Andromeda groaned, "Harry, this is no time for you to be paranoid. You're going to make me late." In her frustration, the older witch grabbed the doorknob and gave it a fierce jiggle.

Only to find that the door was already unlocked.

'_That's odd, even for Harry…'_ Balancing Teddy on her hip, Andromeda made her way into the house. "Harry?" No response, "Harry James Potter, where are you?"

Again there was no response, making Andromeda suspect something was amiss. Then again, whenever Harry was involved, something was bound to be amiss. Andromeda set Teddy's bag on the floor before exploring every inch of the house with the babbling infant. The kitchen was empty, the living room was empty, the den was empty, the rumpus room was empty, the office was empty, the first guest bedroom was empty, the second guest bedroom was empty, every guest bedroom was empty…

'_Please just be asleep Harry…'_ With the turquoise haired infant in her arms, Andromeda Tonks opened the door to Harry's bedroom.

Which was empty.

"Harry, I don't have time for this…" The elder with made her way back downstairs, readjusting her hold on Teddy as she grabbed his bag once more.

"Nya?"

"You'll see Uncle Harry soon, Teddy. I'm sure he's just with Ron and Hermione." Andromeda rolled her eyes slightly as she grabbed a handful of Floo powder, "Let's go check on them, shall we?"

The small boy clapped his tiny hands together, cooing happily.

"I'll take that as a yes then." Both the elderly witch and the infant stood in the fireplace as Andromeda called out the name of Ron Weasley's flat before vanishing in a green firey blaze.

* * *

Ron Weasley had done a lot of crazy things in his life. At the age of 11, he had been pummeled by a life sized queen in a chess match, at 12 he had entered the Chamber of Secrets and managed to get out alive, at 13 he had been attacked by a giant dog who in reality was an escaped Askaban convict, at 14 he had been a mermish hostage, at 15 he had been a part of a raid in the Department of Mysteries (even if that hadn't gone so well), 16….well 16 had been a rough year for his love life…which had suddenly decided to appear. But after that year, at 17, not only had he gone on a cross country hunt for horcruxes, he had also fought in the biggest magical battle in history.

Yes, Ron Weasley had done a lot of crazy and painful things. And he'd do them all again if it meant no more Auror training. Ron's muscles screamed in agony at even the most mundane tasks…like opening the door to his flat. The shutting of said door had Ron's ears ringing and his head aching.

"Owwwwww…." Said redhead tried to make his way to his bedroom quietly. It had been a long night of raids and field training all Ron wanted to do was sleep. But the aches and pains in his body only allowed him to make it to the couch. "Robards is trying to kill me I swear…"

"Ronald?"

Ron groaned. He had tried his best not to wake his girlfriend, but the only time Hermione hadn't worried about him had been when she was petrified at the age of 12. And sure enough, the soft rustle of fabric against fabric could be heard as Hermione Jean Granger made her way to the couch. The brushy haired witch leaned on the back of the couch as she looked down at Ron, who was sprawled in the most unfashionable manner possible.

"…Bad night?"

Ron groaned, trying to shift to face his girlfriend better, "Bad week Hermione, bad week…"

Hermione smiled softly at her boyfriend, "Would some bacon and eggs help the pain?"

Ron couldn't help but chuckle. Leave it to Hermione to offer him food to make him feel better….he knew there was a reason he loved her. "Yeah, bacon sounds delicious right now."

A chuckle escaped Hermione, "Always predictable Ron." The bushy haired witch smiled as she leaned over the couch kiss her boyfriend's forehead.

Only to have the fireplace roar to life with a blazing emerald flame, causing Hermione to lose her balance and topple over Ron as Andromeda Tonks stepped out of the fireplace.

The elderly woman looked at the young couple in surprise, while Ron and Hermione simply stared back at their impromptu visitor. Finally, Andromeda cleared her throat, "Oh, excuse me. I didn't think I would be interrupting anything, I feel terribly rude now…"

Hermione was quick to fling herself off the couch (and Ron of course), "Oh no Mrs. Tonks, you aren't interrupting anything!"

"Except my breakfast…"

"Hush Ron." Hermione sent Ron a halfhearted glare before turning back to Andromeda, "Did you need anything Mrs. Tonks? Did Harry accidently leave one of Teddy's toys over here?"

Andromeda blinked, "Oh no, I had thought that Harry was here. I need him to watch Teddy while I visit my dear friend Margot. Poor thing caught Dragon Pox, and I need to take care of her. And of course little Teddy is in no shape to be near Dragon Pox…"

"Harry wasn't at his place?" Ron interrupted as he hoisted himself up off the couch, making his way to the two women (and Teddy of course).

The elderly witch shook her head, "Merlin no. I knocked for quite some time and it turned out his door wasn't even locked. So I went inside, and he was nowhere to be found, no note or anything, terribly rude…"

Ron and Hermione shared a look. Harry had never been one to keep them out of his plans…nor had he been one to leave his front door unlocked. Whatever had happened to Harry was important.

Not that they would tell Andromeda that.

"Mrs. Tonks, you must be in a hurry." Hermione said with a small smile, "Why don't Ron and I take Teddy until Harry comes back? That way you won't keep Margot waiting?"

Andromeda Tonks thought this over, then smiled back at Hermione, "Why thank you dear. I'm sure you and Ronald will need the practice."

Hermione couldn't help but cringe slightly at the suggestion, but thankfully, Ron said nothing about Andromeda's comment as the older woman handed him Teddy and set the youngster's bag on the ground.

"Have a nice trip, Mrs. Tonks!" Hermione waved as the elderly woman went back to the fireplace.

"I will sweetie! Say 'hello' to Harry for me!" And with that, Andromeda Tonks disappeared in a flash of green flames.

Ron looked at Teddy, then back at Hermione, "Practice then? For what may I ask?"

"Oh shut it Ron!" Hermione flushed, "This is no time to poke fun at us having a baby!"

Ron just stared at Hermione, who's flushing got worse. Teddy seemed to enjoy the game that the grownups were playing, considering the fact he decided to give himself freckles as he looked at Hermione with Ron.

"I'm not poking fun, Hermione." Ron chuckled at Teddy's new freckles, "What do you think happened to Harry then?"

Hermione sighed, "If I knew, we wouldn't be playing babysitters would we?"

Ron watched as his girlfriend tapped her index finger against her lip: a sure sign she was contemplating something.

"We better go look for him then," Ron suggested, picking up Teddy's bag.

"I suppose you're right." Hermione nodded, "But we can't let it get out that Harry is missing."

"Right."

* * *

_**Wizarding Savior Missing?**_

_**Yes, it appears that Harry has done it again, even if the public doesn't know what 'it' is yet. Recently, it has come to public attention that none other than Harry Potter has gone missing, even if that's all the public has been allowed to know. He was last seen at The Leaky Cauldron having a drink at the bar, but when friends arrived at his home, he was nowhere to be found.**_

_**Whether he was the Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One, or the Savior of the Wizarding World, there isn't a witch or wizard that doesn't know the name Harry James Potter. The boy, now a man, made his way into our hearts and our headlines at an early age and hasn't stopped since. **_

_**Even in his Hogwarts years, Potter has managed to do the unthinkable and the impossible not once, but several times, finally astounding the world as he defeated the dark lord Voldemort at the young age of 17.**_

_**But if we had thought Potter was going to stop surprising us there, we were dead wrong. As the trials of Voldemort's Deatheaters began, Harry Potter stunned the world again when he showed up at one particular hearing, not to aid the prosecution, but the defense.**_

_**There were many accusations of coercion and **_**Imperious**_** on the day that the Savior of the Wizarding world stood at the defense of Narcissa and Draco Mal-**_

He couldn't read anymore, he just couldn't. The front page article of _The Daily Prophet_ was soon crumpled in pale hands before being thrown into the blazing fire. But watching the paper shrivel and turn to ash brought no relief to the pale man who sat in front of the fire.

How long had it been since he had seen Harry? Only a few days…at the Leaky Cauldron. It could very well be possible that he had been the last to see Harry before he had vanished. Hell, it could be possible because he knew it was true, and that fact alone gave him shivers.

The one person who had stood up for him when no one else had.

"Harry…"

Gone.

* * *

_[Back in Darkverse]_

"No professor…I think I've finally died."

_What?_ James blinked his one eye. How horrible was the other world that his other self had been expecting to die? James stole a glance at Lily, who was clinging to his arm while staring at the James on the floor.

Dumbledore furrowed his brow, "Why would you think that you had died, my boy?"

The young James Potter slowly sat up, pressing a bloody hand to his forehead, "…I guess when you wake up in a room full of dead people and you're covered in blood, it's not hard to assume that I'm dead."

'_Dead?'_ James shared a glance with Remus, who he could tell was thinking the same thing. Were they all dead in this other world? That didn't sound very hopeful…if that was the price of a world without the Serpent King, was it worth it?

Of course it was.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "I know you must be confused-"

"You have no idea, I don't even know how I died. Maybe alcohol poisoning, but I didn't even drink more than a few butterbeers…maybe a heart attack? But Merlin, what an anticlimactic way to go after the life I lived…"

"You aren't dead my boy."

The young James shook his head, "Then this is the most bizarre dream I have ever had…and that is saying something."

James could hear Sirius stifle a snort beside him. Lily, shot the Animagus a glare before looking back at the young James.

Dumbledore helped the young James to his feet, "Let's find someplace to talk, shall we?"

Kingsley and Moody made their way to help Dumbledore escort their savior up to Dumbledore's office. As James' younger self passed him, James could have sworn he heard something that sounded suspiciously like "at least I'm not naked this time…"

The entire Order followed their savior into the office where they had been only a few hours ago. James didn't let go of Lily even as Dumbledore took a seat at his desk, with the younger James sitting with his back to the Order across from Dumbledore.

"My boy, I can assure you that this is no dream or hallucination." Dumbledore began, "But I will tell you that you are no longer in your own world."

Although James couldn't see the savior's face, he knew that his younger self must have shown confusion, for Dumbledore began to elaborate more. Once again, the Order listened to Dumbledore's theory of multiple realities and how each reality was different and how the differences could be vast or incredibly minute.

"…a single choice can result in a difference between realities." Dumbledore concluded.

There was a heavy silence in the room after Dumbledore finished speaking. No one in the Order dared say a word while their savior pondered the reality of things.

"So…" The younger James began, "What you're saying is that something happened in this world that caused Voldemort to take over?" James couldn't help but notice how calm the savior was acting in the face of such a drastic change. Maybe he was just in shock.

Dumbledore nodded, "He prefers to go by the Serpent King now."

"He would…" The young man let out a dry chuckle.

'_I never laughed like that…'_ James noted. '_Then again, there must have been _some_ differences in our worlds.'_

The young James stood up, looking at the Order, "Well, I can say there are quite a few differences I see here…quite a few…"There was a slightly sorrowful look in the man's green eyes.

'_Wait, I don't have green eyes… green eye…'_ James watched his supposed twin as he looked at Moody with a sad look, before moving onto Tonks, then Remus, then the Frank and Alice, even one of the Weasley boys, before staring long and hard at Sirius. James could have sworn he saw a smile attempt to crawl across the savior's face. But then, he stared at Lily…and himself. There was something weird about the way his younger twin was looking at himself and his wife_…_

"I don't suppose," Dumbledore interrupted, "That in your world, some of us have already passed on due to the war?"

With a nod, the young James sighed, "You would be correct. I lost a lot of friends in the war…a lot of family too…"

James couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy. After all, he had just fought his own world, now here he was, forced to fight another one that had nothing to do with him. Then the savior asked something that no one expected him to.

"Where's Neville?"

The entire room stopped breathing at the question. Alice's eyes began to well up as she buried her face in Frank's shoulder. Frank took a deep breath before looking at the young man in the middle of the room, "Our son was killed many years ago, probably before you were born…"

"He was one wasn't he?"

The next statement was blunt and accurate. Frank tried his best not to sound taken aback, "Yes…he was…"

The young James nodded before looking at James and Lily. James held Lily closer, almost wary of anything the savior had to say. But what he wasn't expecting was-

"And is your son dead as well?"

Lily shock was evident on her face, and James didn't blame her. Had they had a child in the other world? But his twin was so young, too young to be a father…

"No." Lily answered at last, "We don't have a son. My husband and I decided that this war was too dangerous to start a family."

A look of realization crossed the younger James' face, "Professor," he said, addressing Dumbledore, "I do believe I've discovered why our worlds are so different…"

Dumbledore arched an eyebrow, "Oh?" he mused, looking up at the young man, "And why is that James?"

The savior looked at Dumbledore, and then began to laugh, "James? You think I'm James?"

The real James looked at his wife, who was equally confused. _'Well,'_ James thought, _'at least now I know why his eyes were different…'_

The James look alike subsided in his laughter, "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have laughed...of course you would have thought I was James…" Did he sound…sheepish? "I guess since I don't exist in this world…"

Dumbledore was amused to say the least, "You don't? And why is that?"

"It's like you said: a single choice can change realities…like the choice to not have a family during the war." As he said those last words, the savior never took his eyes off Lily, which made James wary to say the least.

James stepped in front of his wife, "And why do you say that?" Regardless of what spell brought him here, this savior had yet to earn James' trust, especially if he kept looking at his wife like that.

The younger man chuckled, "I'm sorry…I guess I need to introduce myself, considering how I know all of you already." The savior stepped towards James, his hand extended in greeting, "My name is Harry James Potter."

It was now that James was able to get a good look at the savior's, Harry's, green eyes.

Lily's eyes.

'_Dear Merlin…he's my son.'_

_

* * *

__I'm sorry I'm addicted to cliffhangers! And I'm sorry that I made Harry come off as a Gary Stu right now! He may be acting really calm right now, but once I start showing his point of view, you'll see how confused he is! But man, what a shocker! Alright, question of the post: What did you think of Draco's reaction to the article? Cheesy? Over dramatic? Romantic?__ Let me know! Reviews are my crack!_

_Until next post_

_slavetothepen  
_


	6. Chapter 6

_Yay! I didn't take a month to update again! I hope I didn't annoy anyone with my cliff hangers, I just have a habit of ending things there. But on a lighter note, I am getting back in the swing of things as far as writing goes, so maybe this means I'm out of my funk. But I'm sure you guys are just excited to read another chapter! To be honest, this is the first chapter I've _ever_ written without an already predetermined outline, so it was my imagination running wild. And for those who were worried, I do have a plan for everyone in Cannonverse (I'm just not gunna tell you yet teehee) but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it! Onto chapter 6 of _Savior's Calling!

* * *

'_This,'_ Harry thought, _'was not what I had in mind when I said I wanted adventure…'_

Harry had never thought that he would one day be standing in front of his father, nor had he thought that his father would have an eye patch for whatever reason. Actually he never thought he'd ever be summoned to a parallel universe by several people he knew to defeat Voldmort, who had taken over the world as they knew it…again. And if he really wanted to get technical, he never thought he would have been a wizard and fly on a broomstick and have a magic wand…but that was before he turned 11.

And now here he was, summoned to a parallel universe by several people he knew to defeat Voldemort again and standing in front of his father, who was wearing an eye patch.

'_Damnit, you would think that I would be more in shock by all this._' Harry mused as the Order began to share looks with one another. _'Maybe I should have found a better way of introducing myself…'_

The look on James Potter's face looked like a mix of shock and-

'_Constant vigilance,'_ Harry decided, noticing the way the way his father was standing protectively in front of his mother, _'I guess I'd be on edge too if I was in the middle of a war…'_ And he was, at least until he defeated Voldemort.

Suddenly Harry's stomach grumbled rather loudly, much to his embarrassment.

Dumbledore stood, "It would see that I have forgotten that even savior's require food. Perhaps it would be best if we ended the festivities for tonight so Harry here can eat before getting some shut eye."

'_I wish he wouldn't refer to me as a savior_' Harry thought blandly, '_Even if it is fitting for the situation…And only Dumbledore would call this 'festivities'...typical'_

The Order slowly began to filter from the room, and Dumbledore led Harry down to a modest kitchen.

Molly Weasley, Harry noted, had a knack for cooking for every possible person she meets, war or no war. It was after Mrs. Weasley had prepared left over stew, toast, his own pot of tea and began cutting up fresh fruit (or maybe not so fresh, how was Harry to know?) that Harry insisted that she didn't need to fix him a three course meal.

"Nonsense, you're a growing boy. I'm sure you could stand to put on some weight." Mrs. Weasley replied, piling on some beans with his toast. Harry couldn't help but notice that Mrs. Weasley was obviously not as taken with the whole 'savior' thing as some were.

And James (Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to be called 'Dad' yet or not) was still grasping the fact that not only did he have a son, that said son would be the hero they needed. The poor man was just standing in the doorway watching him.

The chair next to Harry squeaked, making Harry turn his eyes from his father to Sirius, who apparently decided he wanted to get to know his godson (although he wasn't his godfather here, now was he?).

Sirius gave Harry a good once over, making Harry feel a bit more than just self conscious. After a few moments of staring, Sirius decided, "You do look a lot like James."

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but he did notice how Lupin did not. "But my eyes: I have my mother's eyes." Harry decided to add, having heard the comment several times before. "I get that a lot."

"I don't doubt that." Lupin smiled softly as he leaned against the kitchen counter, "How are you feeling…Harry is it?" The werewolf rubbed the back of his neck shyly, "Sorry about that, it might take me a while to get used to being an uncle, loosely speaking of course."

Harry smiled. It was nice that the war hadn't completely changed Sirius or Remus' personalities. It was almost like having them back… "To be honest Remus, I'm doing quite fine. Well, besides being a bit hungry and a little tired, but I'm only human."

"You aren't scared or confused or freaked out by everything that's happened tonight?" Harry swung his head back to the door. Apparently James had decided to speak up finally.

The question made Harry stop eating his toast. It would appear odd that someone who had just travelled from a parallel world to fight a battle already fought and kill someone already dead in his own world to be so…calm. Of course, if this event had happened perhaps…6 years ago, then maybe Harry would be in a panic.

But he wasn't.

"To be honest Dad, or James if you're uncomfortable, this _isn't _the most bizarre thing that's happened to me, nor the most terrifying." Harry replied as casually as he could before returning to his toast. The Order member's that were present in the room shared glances with one another.

Sirius just grinned, "Any chance of you telling us what _was_ the most bizarre thing that's happened in your life, Harry?"

Harry could feel all eyes on him, and the sudden urge to smooth his hair over his scar was becoming strong. Instead, Harry settled on rubbing the back of his neck as he thought of what could be considered the most bizarre event in his life. Well fighting a three headed dog was bizarre, but then again so was finding out he was a Parslemouth and helping a Askaban escapee hide and witnessing Voldemort's rebirth and finding out prophecies about oneself and watching your best friends snog in the middle of a battle, but-

"Being in a transitional realm between life and death that appeared to look like King's Cross Train Station with Dumbledore, completely naked, has got to be the most bizarre thing in my life to date." Harry muttered, looking down at his tea.

The whole room was dead silent, even Molly Weasley had stopped cleaning her pots and pans. James' one eye looked like it was about to pop out of his head; his jaw even went a bit slack. Sirius on the other hand, was grinning.

"You really do have to tell us about your life." Remus commented, getting a few nods from the other Order members.

"But not tonight, the boy has had quite enough excitement for one night!" Mrs. Weasley declared, nearly hoisting Harry from his seat, "It's past time we all went to bed I say!"

Sirius frowned, but didn't say anything as he left the kitchen (although he did grab Harry's last slice of toast with a wink to Harry). Remus rolled his eyes again at his friend before following with James in tow. Lily, or Mom, Harry noted, hadn't been in the kitchen. But why?

"Come along Harry, I'll show you where you can sleep." Mrs. Weasley said with a smile, leading Harry upstairs, "I'm sorry to say you will have to share with a few of my boys, but I'm sure that they won't pester you too much."

It was Harry's turn to smile, "Don't worry Mrs. Weasley, I'm used to sharing rooms with your boys." When Mrs. Weasley looked at him inquiringly, he added, "Ron and I shared a dormitory and I spent quite a few summers at the Burrow."

Mrs. Weasley's inquiring gaze melted to a fond one, "We still have the Burrow then?"

Harry nodded, "Bill was even married there." _Even if the reception was a bit of a bust…_

But luckily, Mrs. Weasley seemed content knowing at least one of her sons got married, as she was almost humming softly as they walked down the hallway. Harry was surprised that even in the midst of a horrible war, people could still be joyful at small things.

A sharp tug at Harry's arm jolted him from his thoughts. Startled, he turned abruptly to face Alice Longbottom, who look quite startled herself.

"I-I'm sorry…I didn't mean to startle you…" Mrs. Longbottom said quietly, turning slightly red. Harry noted that Neville must have gotten a bit of his nerves from his mother.

Mrs. Weasley smiled softly at Mrs. Longbottom, "Alice dear, I thought you already went to bed. Couldn't sleep?"

Mrs. Longbottom shook her head, "No…I had too much on my mind…"

"Haven't we all dearie? It has been quite an eventful night." Mrs. Weasley nodded slightly, "Not that it's your fault Harry, it's just be a chaotic night in general."

Harry nodded, not sure why he would have blamed himself for the events of the night, after all, they were the ones who summoned _him_. But he decided not to comment, and instead just smiled to Mrs. Longbottom.

Mrs. Longbottom looked at Mrs. Weasley, then back at Harry. Mrs. Weasley obviously took the hint, smileing softly, "I'll just go and get your bed ready, alright Harry? I'm sure you and Mrs. Longbottom can have a nice conversation while I'm gone." The Weasley matriarch hummed softly as she continued her way down the hallway, leaving Harry and Mrs. Longbottom alone.

Harry looked down at Mrs. Longbottom, trying to be friendly, "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Longbottom."

Mrs. Longbottom nodded, "And you, Mr. Potter."

"Please, just Harry. Mr. Potter makes me sound old." Harry chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

The two stood in silence for a while, just looking at each other. Harry was feeling more awkward by the moment. What did Mrs. Longbottom-?

"You knew Neville?" Mrs. Longbottom asked abruptly, and then looked down at her feet.

Harry understood now. While Neville may have been alive and well in his own world, here Neville Longbottom was killed when he was a year old, leaving a mother to grieve the loss of her son. _'All because of some prophesy'_ Harry thought darkly, wondering if Mrs. Longbottom knew why her baby boy was killed.

But Harry kept these thoughts to himself, "I _know_ Neville, yes." Harry answered, smiling slightly.

Mrs. Longbottom looked up, "What's he like?"

Harry thought of all the times when Neville had been picked on (including the time that Hermione had put him in the full body bind when they were 11) and even ridiculed for being a weak wizard. But of course he wasn't about to tell Mrs. Longbottom that her son had been bullied in school, no parent would want to hear that.

Instead Harry thought of when Neville began to grow into the man he was today. The wizard who would fight with him in the Department of Mysteries, the wizard who lead the resistance at a corrupted Hogwarts while Harry was off hunting down Horcruxes and the wizard who destroyed one of Voldemort's own Horcruxes with the sword of Gryffindor…

"He is a true Gryffindor to be sure." Harry smiled, "We shared a dormitory at Hogwarts. He wasn't the most book knowledgeable wizards," _'To be honest, he was a bit useless until our fourth year…'_, "But he has a real passion for Herbology…he is one of the bravest wizards I know" _'How many 17 year olds defy Voldemort at the risk of his own life?' _"and also one of the kindest."

Mrs. Longbottom smiled, showing small dimples on her cheeks, _'Well I guess I know where Neville got his smile…'_ Harry mused.

"Thank you…" Mrs. Longbottom said quietly, "Neville sounds like a son I would be proud of, that he was raised right."

Harry's heart dropped to his stomach. Could he possibly tell Mrs. Longbottom that she had absolutely no part in raising her only son? That she was confined to the mental ward of St. Mungos? That she couldn't even recognize her own son?

But before Harry could say anything more, Mrs. Weasley returned, "Here we go Harry, I've got your bed all tidied up. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything Alice."

Mrs. Longbottom smiled, "Oh no Molly, we were just finished talking." She looked at Harry, "Thank you again Harry."

Harry smiled back as Mrs. Longbottom walked downstairs, probably to where her and her husband slept, while Mrs. Weasley led Harry down the hallway to a small bedroom.

"I'm sorry you have to share with my youngest boys," Mrs. Weasley whispered as not to wake anyone, "But they won't give you any trouble."

Harry whispered back, "Don't worry Mrs. Weasley, and thank you for the food and the bed."

Mrs. Weasley smiled and left Harry to sleep.

Harry looked around the room, which was lit by a few candles on an end table. There was a small mattress set up on the floor, which he assumed was for him. He had also assumed that he would be sharing a room with Ron, but as Harry counted three other bodies in the room, he concluded that the twins and Percy also shared this room.

'_Well at least it's cozy…' _Harry thought as he laid down on the mattress. He was still in his cloths, but it didn't bother Harry too much. He could always ask for more cloths in the morning. For now, Harry was just content to enjoy the silence in the room.

_Wait…_

Harry sighed, "Ron I know you're awake."

A small flinch in the bed next to his mattress proved Harry's guess correct.

Ron Weasley rolled over to face Harry, "How-?"

Harry smiled slightly, "You snore like a mountain troll when you're _really_ asleep Ron."

"I never heard that description before." Harry looked over at Fred (or was it George?), who had sat up in his bed with a grin.

George (Fred?) propped himself up on his elbow, "But now that I think about it-"

"-It is the best description-"

"-can't believe we didn't think of it ourselves."

Ron huffed, "Oh stuff it you two."

Harry smiled. It was good to hear some Weasley bickering, it was somehow comforting.

"So Harry" Fred asked from his bed, "How _do _you know that Ronnikins snores?"

"Yeah," George added, ignoring Ron's huffing, "it must be the insane mind powers he has."

"Mind powers?" Harry found himself asking despite himself.

Ron rolled his eyes, "Don't mind them. My brothers are-"

"Jokers?" Harry supplied, trying to keep from laughing at Ron's expression.

"What did we tell you Ronnikins?" Fred grinned, "He's reading your mind as we speak."

Harry laughed quietly, "I'm not much of a_ Legilimens,_ sorry to disappoint Fred. Or George…no I think you're Fred."

The twins laughed, "You were right, I am Fred." Fred chuckled, leaning against his pillow, "Are you sure you aren't a _Legilimens?_"

Harry shook his head, "I'm sure. Just because I don't exist in your world doesn't mean you don't exist in mine."

"Well…that makes sense…" Ron muttered, turning red at the ears.

Harry smiled, "Ron and I shared a dormitory at Hogwarts, that's how I knew he snored."

The mention of Hogwarts piqued all the boy's attention, "Hogwarts is still a school then?" Ron asked.

Harry blinked, but decided against asking anything. He'd learn soon enough, "Yeah, Ron and I were in Gryffindor."

"Oi, what about Fred and I?" George asked, eager to hear more.

Harry smiled softly, "You were in Gryffindor too. In fact, you two develop a joke shop that almost runs Zonko's out of business. Your mother didn't approve at first-"

"Obviously." Fred added with a snicker.

"-but you two did what made you happy. And it made a lot of other people happy, despite a war going on." Harry finished, watching the Weasley twins smile. He decided to leave out the part where George only had one ear and Fred was dead. That could happen tomorrow.

"Are you sure you had a war in your world?" Ron asked, looking at Harry.

Harry looked back at Ron, "Trust me, there was a war Ron." Harry yawned, closing his eyes, "You were a big part of it too…helped me go around destroying Horcruxes…"

As Harry fell asleep, he couldn't help but hear Ron ask something that disturbed him greatly.

"What's a Horcrux?"

* * *

The Adder's Lair was, in short, the Serpent King's proudest achievement of his reign. Enslaving the wizarding world had been entirely too easy after the brat from the prophecy was taken care of. But to have all the magical knowledge in the world at his fingertips, and away from unworthy scum, was brilliant.

As Tom Riddle ran his long finger along the row of books, he couldn't help but smirk at what the rebels were planning to use against him. Would they try and create a dark beast? Perhaps they used dark magic to develop a new spell….

But none of it mattered. No matter what those pathetic rebels did, they had no chance of defeating him, not when he was immortal.

The long spidery finger of Tom Riddle hit a gap in the books, causing the Serpent King to look up at the shelf with his narrowed red eyes. The gap was large to be sure, in fact it was obvious a book had been taken from the shelf. Perhaps it was the book that the rebels had stolen, but…

There were two books missing.

His book was missing.

'_Those pathetic rebels wouldn't dare…'_ But as Tom Riddle searched the rest of the Lair, he could not find the small book that had been next to the tome.

The Serpent King stormed from the Lair, waiting for anyone to cross his path, just to give him an excuse to curse someone. Perhaps he wouldn't even need an excuse, he could just curse anyone.

Before, Tom had been amused with the rebel antics, thinking the game would be interesting.

Now he was annoyed.

'_The rebels will pay for this_…'

* * *

_Was that a cliffhanger? If not, phew, if so, damn. Please don't hold my kitty hostage, the _New Leaf to Call _fans were rabid and getting her back was hard!_

_Question! What do you think the importance of the book is? Leave me your answer in your review! If you guess right, I'll give you a shoutout in my next post!_

_Until next time!_

_slavetothepen  
_


	7. Chapter 7

_I AIN'T DEAD! I am so sorry to all my loyal readers for not updating in two months. I just started a new year at school and I needed to get back in the swing of things. Thank you for being so patient, or not so patient_ (_I'm talking to you _xDarklightx _and _Persephone Wolfe_). To make up for it, this chapter is extra long (in my standards). As promised, I will do the shoutouts to those who guessed correctly, but I will do it at the end of the chapter to prevent SPOILAGE! And without further groveling, on with the seventh installment of _Savior's Calling!

* * *

"Harry…Harry you need to wake up…"

Harry groaned, covering his eyes with his forearm. It was far too early for Ron to be coming into his house and waking him up, the sun hadn't even risen yet. Why couldn't he just-

"Mum's made breakfast, and everyone is waiting for you. You better hurry before Fred and George eat everything."

Wait…breakfast only happened after the sun rose…and Harry's room faced East…how could he have missed the sunrise?

_Wait…Fred?_

That's when Harry remembered. The creepy basement, the room full of dead people, finding out that he was in an alternate reality. His parents….

It was all real.

"Damnit."

"What?" Ron raised an eyebrow, leaning over Harry. Then Harry remembered that this wasn't his Ron, it was the Ron from the other world…the dark world. "Harry?" Ron asked again, shaking his shoulder slightly.

Harry shrugged off Ron's hand, "I'm alright Ron…I just remembered that I have to vanquish Voldemort again."

"You mean The Serpent King?" Ron raised an eyebrow as Harry stood up.

Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "Whatever he is called here. I still know him as Tom Riddle…" He fumbled for his glasses on the small mattress. Ron picked up the glasses and placed them in Harry's hand for him, "Thanks…"

Ron smiled, "No problem. We should head downstairs before all the foods gone."

Harry nodded as they made their way downstairs, smiling as they passed some familiar faces and wondering at the not so familiar faces and who had survived this war so far.

* * *

James Potter was more than at a loss of what to think about the events of the past 24 hours. Afterall, Tonks hadn't broken into Castle Slytherin more than 12 hours ago. Then Lily had managed to form the array needed, perfectly James might add, in a matter of a few hours. But…then when Dumbledore had spoken the chant…

He became a father.

Of a teenager.

What was he supposed to do? Did Harry want to call him 'Dad'? Was he a good dad to Harry in his world? Did Harry hate him? What if-

"Prongs!"

James jolted from his train of thought to look across the table at Sirius, "What?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, "I've asked you three times already to pass the jam. What could you possibly be thinking of so hard that you're ignoring me of all people?"

"I've got a pretty good idea of what he's thinking of." Lily muttered, tieing her hair back with a ribbon before taking a sip of tea.

At Sirius's blank look, Remus shook his head, "Lily and James are suddenly parents of the savior of the magical world. Wouldn't you be in shock if you suddenly became a parent?"

"I would be shocked if I became a parent at all" Sirius admitted.

"Gee, I wonder why…" Lily grumbled into her tea, blinking away the sleep from her eyes.

James nodded mutely, looking down at his toast. He knew that things would be different once they summoned the savior, but that was before he discovered that the savior was his son.

"It's surreal, isn't it?" Lily asked quietly, "To think that this whole war would be over if we had just had a child…"

"Don't say things like that Lily" James interrupted her, "There was no way we could have known that Harry would end the war."

Lily opened her mouth to respond, but she shut it when Dumbledore entered the room. "You are free to wonder if the outcome of the war would differ if past events were different Lily" He commented calmly, "But we should focus on the present and, more importantly, the future." Dumbledore sat at the head of the long table. "I am quite intrigued with Harry and of course how he defeated this evil."

Several in the kitchen nodded in agreement, some adding their own murmurs and questions.

"He seems awfully young for the slayer of the Serpent King." Moody grunted.

Tonks shook her head, "He's no younger than Ron, and he's been fighting since he came of age."

"Yeah, but Ron's grown up with this war," Charlie added, "We all have…"

"Oh for the love of Merlin, would you all stop your gossiping?" Molly interrupted, "The poor boy has gone through quite a bit if you ask me, and he isn't something you all can oogle at."

"It's alright, you all can oogle" The Order turned to look at Harry in the doorway, with Ron close behind him, "Trust me, I'm used to it."

Tonks and some of the other Order members cleared their throats awkwardly. Molly insisted on dragging Harry to the nearest seat at the table.

"Here you are Harry, nothing breakfast can't cure. You eat on up…" Molly proceeded to pile food onto the young man's plate.

James watched as Harry smiled back at her and thanked her before eating his food. How could someone be so calm after what happened to him? How could he be so familiar with strangers?

As James stared at Harry, Harry decided to choose that moment to look up from his plate and at James. He did have Lily's eyes, James admitted, down to the spark of defiance that would flicker from time to time. Harry definitely got his hair from James, which made sense, and they both needed glasses, or at least back when James had two eyes.

"James, are you done oogling at your son?" Sirius teased, elbowing James's side. James gave Sirius a glare, but stopped when Harry started laughing.

Lily smiled softly at Harry, "You really aren't fazed at all by this, are you Harry?"

Harry's laughter quieted as he took a sip of orange juice, "If you're asking if I'm surprised and overwhelmed at the situation, don't be fooled, I freaked out when I woke up this morning. But like I said, I've had so many nasty surprises thrown at me; I've just learned to roll with the punches."

"Something that I'm sure we all are eager to learn, Harry" Dumbledore nodded, steepling his fingers, "A matter that would be best tended to as soon as possible."

James saw Harry's shoulders sag at Dumbledore's words, "I know…but may I finish eating first?" He sounded almost tired in a way.

Dumbledore nodded as Molly insisted on piling more food onto Harry's plate. James swore he saw a slight smirk on Harry's face, as if he knew that Molly would make him eat more and thus give him more time before sharing his story.

Would he do that on purpose?

* * *

'_Leave it to Molly Weasley to keep the food coming'_ Harry almost smiled to himself as he ate, thinking of how in Merlin's name he was going to explain everything to the Order. Did he start with Voldemort coming after him as a child and go through his years at Hogwarts, revealing things when he himself had learned them? No…no, they would just be confused the entire time. Should he explain the Horcruxes first? Merlin no, they would ask nothing but questions the entire time and he wouldn't be able to explain anything to them.

Before he knew it, his plate was empty. '_Damn…'_

Dumbledore stood, "Perhaps we should move to the study for this…"

Harry shook his head, "Why don't we stay down here? There are more places for people to sit, plus I feel much more comfortable telling my story here."

Some of the Order members nodded and took seats around the kitchen table as well as on counter tops and some of the younger members sat on the floor, namely Tonks and the younger half of the Weasley clan.

"My boy, we are all eager to know how exactly you came to defeat the Serpent King." Dumbledore watched Harry with an amused look on his face. The Order members nodded in agreement.

Suddenly Harry felt like he was being interviewed by the _Daily Prophet_ again, "Well to be honest, it's a very long story, and all of it's pretty important…" Seeing no objections, Harry continued, "I should probably start when I was one."

Ron's shoulders sagged and the twins gave a small groan before Arthur shushed them. Harry barely contained a chuckle.

"That's an awfully long way to go back." Remus commented quietly.

Harry nodded, "I know, but that's when the first of several key events happened. It was when the prophecy was first told."

"Prophecy?" Bill blurted before he could stop himself. The rest of the Order looked at one another, murmurs rippling throughout the room.

Harry stopped. What if there was no prophecy in this world? Afterall, he wasn't even born in this world, who knew what else was different?

Dumbledore raised a hand to quiet everyone, "My boy, there are a lot of prophecies in the world, which one would you be referring to?"

Harry looked at Dumbledore. Could it be possible that Dumbledore had kept it a secret? It wouldn't surprise him in the slightest, the older man did love his secrets. But there was only one way to find out.

"The one told by Sybill Trelawney…" Harry watched Dumbledore's face, looking for any sort of recognition that he knew that Harry was talking about. "On the night that she was interviewed for the Divinations Professor position at Hogwarts."

There. The corner of Dumbledore's eye twitched ever so slightly in recognition.

_Gotcha_.

"I don't understand," Harry looked at Frank Longbottom, "What was so important about this prophecy?"

Harry's heart dropped. How had Dumbledore not told the Longbottom's about the prophecy? He looked at the old wizard in disbelief, "You never told them?" he asked, half in shock and half in disgust.

Dumbledore was not fazed by Harry's question, "It was not important for them to know."

Harry stared at Dumbledore for a few moments, "Not important…HOW IN MERLIN'S NAME WAS THAT NOT IMPORTANT?" Harry didn't mean to raise his voice, but some things never changed, and Dumbledore and his secrets was one he didn't care to deal with at the moment, "Didn't you think that they should have known why Neville Longbottom died before he could say his first words?"

Alice flinched at the mention of her late son, and Frank held her tightly in his arms. The whole room sat dead still at Harry's outburst.

Harry cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed at how quickly he lost his temper. "I'm sorry about that Dumbledore, I guess old habits die hard."

The old wizard raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What habits would you be referring to?" he asked curiously, breaking the tension in the room.

Harry sighed, "You with your secrets and me with my hating your secrets. It's what we argued most about…well mostly I did the yelling, but I'm getting off topic." He took a deep breath to calm himself, "When I was a year old, Trelawney told a prophecy about the Voldemort, or the Serpent King I suppose."

Moody grunted, "What prophecy?"

"A prophecy that told who could vanquish him." Harry stated simply, "I don't remember it word for word, but there were a list of requirements that would point out the one who could kill Tom Riddle." Harry watched the many eyes of the Order members (with the exception of his father with his one eye) stare at him in rapt attention, "The child would be born as the seventh month died, to parents who had defied Tom three times and lived to tell about it, and Tom himself would mark him as his equal."

Alice and Frank shared a look with one another, holding each other's hands tightly. Harry sighed softly before continuing, "This is where our worlds differ: in my world, there were two children that fit the criteria: myself and Neville. Because I was never born in this world, that left only Neville for Voldemort to kill." He looked at Alice and Frank, "That's why Neville was killed, it wasn't a spontaneous act of violence, the Death Eaters weren't trying to send a message, Voldemort killed him because Neville was a threat; he would have been the one who would be this world's savior instead of me."

The Longbottom's looked shook up, Alice even buried her face in Frank's shoulder for a minute or so, "He would have ended this war if we had just-"

Harry interrupted Frank before he could say anything else, "You didn't know, and no amount of 'what if's will bring Neville back." This was harder than Harry thought it would be, "But in my world, since it came down between Neville and myself, Tom chose to go after me instead of Neville because Tom saw me as more of an equal."

Tonks raised an eyebrow, "Why were you more of an equal?"

Harry rubbed his temples, "Because we're both half blood." Before anyone could interrupt again, Harry continued, "So Tom, Voldemort, the Serpent King or whatever you call him, came after me when I was an infant. The thing that changed everything was the fact that my parents were home."

* * *

"The thing that changed everything was the fact that my parents were home."

James' heart stopped. Did he and Lily manage to fight of the Serpent King long enough to save Harry? Was that why Harry was so powerful?

"What happened?" Percy asked from across the kitchen.

James watched as Harry took a deep breath, and noticed that Harry was deliberately not looking at him and Lily, "Dad died first, trying to hold him off so Mum could escape with me. What he didn't know was that Voldemort had put an anti-Apparition wards on the house, so we were both stuck in the house. When Voldemort tried to kill me, Mum stopped him, begging him to take her instead. He took her up on the offer, thinking that once she was dead, there would be nothing to stop him from killing me."

James' blood ran cold. He was dead? Lily was dead? "Why aren't you dead then?" He found himself asking despite his disbelief.

Harry looked at him, an almost apologetic look on his face, "By sacrificing herself for my life, Mum had invoked some old magic, preventing Voldemort from even touching me. So when he cast the killing curse, it had bounced off of me and onto him."

'_It had bounced off_?'James thought, shocked. From the look of several other Order members, they were at a loss as much as he was. Lily gripped his hand tightly beside him as Harry continued.

"For the next ten years of my life, I lived with my aunt and uncle as a muggle."

"You lived with my sister?" Lily asked, dumbfounded that her baby boy would live with such hateful people, "Why in Merlin's name were you sent to live with them? Why not with Remus or Sirius?" James noted how she said Remus' name first, and apparently Sirius did too, nodding his head.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, Sirius was my godfather, but he was…busy at the time…"

"Busy?" Sirius furrowed his brow, "What the hell was I so busy doing that I made you life with muggles?"

Harry muttered something, making the entire Order (sans Dumbledore of course) to struggle to hear him.

"What was that Harry?" Ron asked from the floor.

"I said Azkaban, alright?" Harry looked down at his empty plate, "Sirius was framed for the murder of 12 muggles and sent to Azkaban." James could see Sirius' face pale at the mention of his fate, but Harry made note to not look at him, "I discovered I was a wizard when I was 11, and from then on Voldemort tried to kill me almost every year."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, "I thought you said that Voldemort was dead."

Harry shook his head, "No, just reduced to an almost ghostly form. I'll explain that more later. Every year Voldemort would try and find a way to come back to his former self and I would find a way to stop him somehow. My first year, it was by trying to retrieve and use the Sorcerers' Stone to achieve immortality, second year it was by trying to drain the life out of a first year witch."

James noticed that Harry looked like he wasn't sharing something with the Order, but brushed it off as Harry having some bad memories connected with those years.

"What happened next?" One of the twins, George James thought, asked curiously.

Harry chuckled, "Well third year, Sirius became the first person to escape Azkaban." James could see Sirius almost beam with pride, "The entire wizarding world thought that he was after me in some sort of twisted revenge."

"Well was I?" Sirius asked, worried.

"You were, but not against me." Harry bit his lip in thought, as if trying to piece together how to tell this particular part of the story, "Do you remember Peter Pettigrew?"

James, Remus, Sirius and even Lily bristled, "What does that traitor have to do with anything?" Remus said quietly.

Harry nodded, "At least some things never change. Well in my world, Pettigrew was my parents Secret Keeper and told Voldemort how to get to the house on the night my parents were killed. Sirius knew that it had to be Pettigrew that told them, so he went after him. Pettigrew was the one who framed him for those 12 muggles and sent him to Azkaban in the first place." Harry sighed, "Pettigrew faked his own death and hid as Wormtail for the next 12 years as Ron's pet rat named Scabbers."

James could see the youngest Weasley boy turn a pale greenish color at the implications, but turned back to Harry as he continued, "Sirius managed to figure that out and came to Hogwarts, but while everyone else was thinking that he was after me, Professor Lupin-"

"Excuse me?" James looked at Remus' surprised face, "Professor? Me?"

Harry chuckled, "Yes, you were the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor my third yet, best one in my opinion, but anyways in the end, not only did I discover that Sirius was my godfather, Pettigrew betrayed my parents and that Remus was a werewolf, I got to help a convicted Azkaban felon escape authorities."

"Sounds like you had quite a year there Harry." Arthur chuckled slightly, hoping to lift the mood.

Harry shook his head, "Trust me, it only gets more chaotic from here. My fourth year was when Voldemort was able to return to his full power. He managed to drag me to a cemetery with his father was buried and use my blood and his father's bones, not to mention Pettigrew's hand, to resurrect himself…" James noted how dim Harry's eyes got, "That was the first time I saw someone die…and the second time I survived the Killing Curse."

Moody grunted, "How did you do it this time? Surely Lily's sacrifice wasn't still working."

Harry shook his head, "This is where things get a little fuzzy in my understanding, but I'm guessing because Voldemort marked me as his equal, when I first got my wand at age 11, my wands core came from the exact same phoenix as his. And because of that, they were brothers in a way, so neither would attack the other. So when Voldemort cast the Killing Curse, I cast _Expelliarmus"_ James could a snort come from some of the older members at Harry's simple spell usage, "They met in the middle and they caused _Priori Incantatem_, which caused the spirits of Voldemort's latest spells to emerge…including Mum and Dad. Luckily, I was able to escape with Cedric's body using the portkey that brought us to the cemetery."

Cedric? As in Cedric Diggory? Why James remembered him from another branch of the Order, currently hiding out in Hogsmeade. He sighed, holding Lily's hand. Harry had certainly done more than most of the Order could even think of doing.

"I warned everyone that Voldemort was back, but all during my fifth year, I was considered a lunatic and a liar. The Ministry of Magic refused to believe that Voldemort was back and that their peace was threatened. So it wasn't until a few of my friends and I fought Deatheaters in the Department of Mysteries that anyone took me seriously, but that wasn't until after Sirius was killed in the fight." Harry refused to look at Sirius, who was very pale at the news of his death, "It was also the first time I used an Unforgivable…"

"Harry!" Molly scolded, smacking Harry's shoulder.

James stared at Harry, "You didn't kill anyone did you?"

Harry shook his head again, "No, nothing like that. Bellatrix was the one who killed Sirius and-" Harry stopped when several of the Order members clenched their teeth, some even hissing at the mentioning of Bellatrix Lestrange. "What?"

"Damn Black Mamba…" Sirius clenched his fist.

Harry looked at Dumbledore for some sort of explanation. The old man took a calm breath, "You see Harry, some of the Order have seen fit to label some of the Serpent King's followers as certain types of serpents."

"Like my bitch of a cousin." Sirius swore.

Harry nodded in recognition. "She's just as evil in my world. After she killed you, she started mocking me. I was so mad that I _Crucio'd_ her." Lily stared at Harry in shock, "After the battle was over, Dumbledore finally told me about the prophecy, and I learned that I would be the only one that could kill Voldemort."

James noticed how Harry's eyes got darker, "My sixth year I spent learning all I could about Voldemort, and more importantly, Tom Riddle. Dumbledore and I looked at as many memories of Tom as we could, looking for clues."

Dumbledore looked curious, "Clues for what?"

Harry looked back at Dumbledore, "Clues to what Tom would choose for his Horcruxes."

Lily rose an eyebrow, "I've never heard of a Horcrux before…."

"I wouldn't expect you to, it's very dark magic." Harry commented, "It's an ordinary object that can hold a piece of a person's soul. The only way that one can tear their soul into pieces is by killing, which makes sense for Voldemort." A wave of murmurs rippled through the Order before Harry spoke again, "That's why he didn't die on the night he tried to kill me as an infant. And that's why he barely looks human."

Dumbledore nodded in recognition, "The idea of Horcruxes hadn't even crossed my mind."

Harry nodded in return, "That's what I spent my seventh year doing, I didn't attend Hogwarts so I could search and destroy each and every one of Voldemort's Horcruxes."

"How many were there?" Moody asked urgently. James couldn't help but wonder the same thing. If everything was the same so far, then the Serpent King probably had the same number of Horcruxes.

"He had seven total, he wanted a powerful magical number. I discovered that I had already destroyed one in my second year of Hogwarts and that Dumbledore had destroyed another the previous year. During my seventh year, my friends and I destroyed three more."

"That's only five." Frank pointed out.

Harry nodded, "That's because we were interrupted by the Battle of Hogwarts. It was Deatheaters against students and Order members. During the chaos, I had discovered that I was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes."

Lily gasped, "But how-?"

"When he killed tried to kill me, part of his soul transferred to me. An accident, but I was still a Horcrux…so I went out to meet him, knowing he would kill me." Harry took a deep breath, ignoring the murmurs, "And that's how I survived the Killing Curse the third time. When Voldemort killed me, he didn't kill me, he destroyed the Horcrux."

James stared at Harry. If Harry weren't the son he never had, he wouldn't believe a word he was saying. It seemed so surreal.

"Of course, that didn't stop Voldemort from dragging my body into Hogwarts to gloat over my dead body" Here James noticed Harry roll his eyes, "He tried to make an example out of Neville because Neville refused to bow down to him." Ignoring the horrified looks from Alice and Frank, Harry continued, "He put the Sorting Hat on Neville's head and set it on fire. What Voldemort forgot was that in his act of defiance, Neville had proven himself a true Gryffindor and so the Sword of Gryffindor dropped from the hat, with which Neville was able to destroy the last Horcrux."

Tonks looked at Molly, mumbling about the Sword of Gryffindor, while Moody muttered his congratulations to Frank and Alice on their son's courageous act.

"With all the Horcruxes destroyed, I chose that moment to 'come back to life'" James noticed the sarcasm in Harry's voice, "There was a huge uproar on both sides, but they both seemed to know that it came down to me and him. Winner take all."

Harry stopped talking, much to the irritation of the Order, "Well? What happened?"

"Well I won obviously."

"Boy, stop beating around the bush, how did you defeat him?" Moody growled, getting impatient.

Harry sighed, "There was a lot of talking between the two of us before Voldemort cast the Killing Curse again. I countered with _Expelliarmus_. Voldemort's wand flew out of his hand, causing the spell to bounce back and kill him…for real."

With that, Harry stood up, "That's my story, thank you for listening to it."

"Hold up," Sirius stood up as well, "There's something you're not telling us."

"You could write several books with the things that I didn't tell you, but everyone has their secrets." Harry retorted, stretching his back.

Before anyone else could say anything, Dumbledore raised a hand to quiet everyone, "Well thank you for sharing with us Harry, but now we should move into the study to work on how we will defeat the Serpent King."

Everyone stood, some stretching their limbs, some just glad to move.

* * *

Harry walked as slowly as he could up to the study, the Weasley boys close behind him.

"Did you really kill the Serpent King with an _Expelliarmus?_" Percy muttered, astonished.

Harry nodded, "Yes, it's more or less my signature move back home. All the Deatheaters knew that I liked to use it."

Fred chuckled, "Bloody brilliant using a first year level spell to kill the darkest wizard of all time"

George snickered with his twin, and Harry was glad that the Weasley boys could still joke in such a dark world.

Ron cleared his throat as they climbed the stairs, "So Harry…er, in your world, what with Hogwarts and all, do you know if any of us…well, if we're dating anyone?"

Harry struggled to keep from laughing. Leave it to Ron to still be awkward about girls, "Hermione."

"What?" At this, even Bill and Charlie looked at Harry in shock.

"That's Ron's girlfriend's name: Hermione Granger." Harry chuckled at the look on Ron's face.

"Wicked…" The stupid grin on Ron's face couldn't get any wider.

Harry smirked, "Not as wicked as Bill marrying a veela." Before any of the Weasley boys could say anything, Harry walked into the study.

Dumbledore was already sitting at the desk, looking at a massive book, "What is that?" Harry asked, curious.

"This, my boy, is the book that brought you here" Dumbledore turned the book so that Harry could have a look.

But something else had caught Harry's eye. A small leather bound text.

"Why do you have that?" He asked loudly, pointing at the small book.

At the question, Tonks stepped forward, embarrassed. "Um, that was my mistake. When I stole the tome from Castle Slytherin, that one fell off the shelf and I didn't have time to put it back in place."

Harry nodded, picking up the small leather bound book. He looked at it for a few moments in silence, knowing the Order was watching him while he did.

"What is it Harry?" Ron asked, "What's so important about that book?"

Harry sighed, "I hate diaries."

* * *

_Woo! I hoped you liked it! I would hate to be getting rusty so soon in the game. So my post question of the day is: Do you hope that the canonverse crew (like Ron and Hermione and Neville) find Harry?_

_And now, shoutout time. I thought I was being clever with my plot twist, but you guys are too clever! So the list is long, but hey, I love you guys that much_

xDarklightx

Anonymous Sister of the Author

Ash of Mine

Smithback

Shadewatcher

Dysgrammatophobia

Twilight's Aura

Crazy Sarcastic Bitch

xxlifeinwordsxx

Rhianona

StormBrsinger

ZeniaFlower

Alicia Spinet

lovebird17

skabs

_If I forgot to add you, please let me know! Love you all! Remember, reviews are my crack!_

_slavetothepen  
_


	8. Chapter 8

_Woohoo! It didn't take 2 months for my next update! I wanted to get this one out quickly (but not too quickly) just to let you know that I'm still committed to this story. Also, a little side note, I noticed that my first story, _New Leaf to Turn, _has almost received 100,000 hits. That's huge for me, so I'm excited. And a big sorry to _Persephone Wolfe_, who also answered correctly, but whom i forgot to add to my list. Sorry and happy reading!__  
_

_And to those who didn't get why I gave Bellatrix the Black Mamba name, go watch _Kill Bill_ (unless you're too young). It made sense to me, Beatrix, Bellatrix? Anybody? Oh well, it made me giggle._

_Someone asked why I make my chapters around 3,000 words and not longer. The reason I do this is because while in a real book where chapters are much longer, this is an online story, and I don't want to spend hours in front of the screen reading tiny words. I think around 3,000 words is a nice sized chapter, not so short that there's little to know plot flow, but not so long that you're begging for it to be over._

_Now that I'm done ranting, onto chapter 8 of _Savior's Calling!

* * *

[Back in Canonverse]

To say that Neville Longbottom had outgrown all expectations set before him would have been an understatement. From the time that he was young, his family expected him to be just as brave and just as strong as his parents were. And for many of his earily years, he had been nothing but a worthless disappointment. He hadn't even the strength to believe in himself.

Until he met Harry that is. Sure the changes were small, like earning 10 points for Gryffindor their first year and securing the house cup, but they were there. By their fifth year, Harry had opened a door to Neville that Neville wasn't even sure would ever be open to him. Under Harry's teaching in Dumbledore's Army, Neville's confidence grew, and along with that, so did his magic. By the time Harry left with Ron and Hermione to hunt down Horcruxes, Neville was ready to step up and take Harry's place as leader of Dumbledore's Army. Even when Voldemort himself had tried to make an example of him by setting the Sorting Hat on fire, he stood strong.

"You would have been proud of me, Mum." Neville smiled kindly to his mother as he told her the story for the millionth time. "I got to wield the Sword of Gryffindor and I even slayed Nagini. You should have seen the look on Voldemort's face, Dad. It was priceless." He chuckled lightheartedly. Frank and Alice Longbottom weren't listening to Neville's story. They never did, but Neville didn't mind. He just enjoyed spending time with his parents.

Neville suddenly felt something warm in his pocket, and reached into his pocket curiously. Today was his day off, what could Ron possibly have that was so important that he would interrupt his visit with his parents, and contact him through his DA coin? He took out the gold Galleon that was in his pocket and looked at the edge, wondering what his partner found so urgent.

_12 Grimmauld ASAP_

Oh. That would be important, especially to Ron, and Neville for that matter. Ever since Ron had gotten them assigned to the Potter case (though Neville abhorred referring to Harry's disappearance as such), he was investigating nonstop. And now he was probably waiting impatiently waiting for Neville to show up to search Harry's house. With a sigh, Neville got up and smoothed out the wrinkles in his slacks.

"I've got to go now, Mum, Dad. I'll be back next week." Neville smiled softly before living his parents' room at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

* * *

"Well it's about time you got here." Ron huffed, sitting on the front porch with his arms crossed.

Neville rolled his eyes, "Sorry, I was visiting my parents." He looked up at the house before them, "I can't believe that Harry still lives here."

Ron nodded as he stood up, "It looks much nicer on the inside, Harry fixed it up after the war."

"No doubt he did," Neville muttered, "Why did you wait outside for me? Didn't Harry give you a key to this place?"

Ron opened his mouth to respond, then shut it again when he realized that Neville was right. "…Stuff it." He grumbled, already getting his key out to unlock the front door. Once the door was open, the two observed the state of the door, "Well obviously no one came through the front door…it was still locked."

Neville nodded, "Plus, anyone that would have used the front door would have had to have gotten through Harry's _Fidelius_ charm." The auror mad his way through the doorway, "Awfully paranoid of Harry to still use a _Fidelius _charm after the war's over, isn't it?"

As Ron shut the door, he shook his head, "Harry's not paranoid, he's just private." He muttered, inspecting a coat rack.

It made sense to Neville, after all, Harry was the Savior of the Wizarding World, he probably didn't want everyone and their aunt to know where he lived. Who knew how many requests for interviews or autographs he would get if they knew?

"His cloak is missing." Ron stated, pointing to the coat rack.

"Which cloak?" Neville asked curiously, "_The _cloak?"

Ron rolled his eyes, "Of course his Invisibility Cloak Neville, I really wouldn't care if his best winter cloak was missing."

Neville sighed. He was used to Ron's outbursts, especially now with his best friend missing. "Well if it was just a normal cloak missing, it would have meant that perhaps Harry simply left without telling anyone."

Ron shook his head stubbornly, "Harry isn't the type to run off without telling anyone."

At this, Neville just stared at Ron, "…What are you talking about? Harry's been the type to run off since he was 11, you have been too." Ignoring Ron's protests, Neville went upstairs to Harry's room to double check and see if anything was missing.

Not that he would have been able to know if anything was missing from the bedroom. Harry's room reflected what his trunk always looked like at Hogwarts: a mess. Cloths were everywhere, drawers were left open and the bed was a disaster. _'Typical Harry…'_ Neville mused as he pawed though the items on the floor.

He wasn't sure how long he had been searching for clues, but Neville had been so enthralled with the task at hand that he hadn't heard Ron come into the bedroom.

"The map is missing."

Neville jumped a bit, surprised by the sudden noise, before standing up straight and looking at Ron, "What map?"

Ron shook his head, "His father map of Hogwarts…" Seeing Neville's curious expression, he elaborated, "It was enchanted…It's how we were able to sneak around Hogwarts without getting caught."

'_Well that makes sense.'_ Neville mused at the secret of Harry's sneaking ability. "So Harry was going to Hogwarts when he was abducted?"

"Or whoever abducted him wanted Harry to get him into Hogwarts." Ron added, looking around the room, "No…Harry's coat is missing, he was getting ready to leave when he was abducted."

"How…" Neville shook his head, deciding not to ask how Ron knew that Harry's coat was missing from the mess of cloths on the floor. He would just chalk that up to Ron being Harry's best friend. "Nevermind. Should we check the study?"

Before Ron could answer, a third voice was heard from downstairs.

"Ron! I need some help!" Hermione shouted, bouncing a very fussy Teddy in her arms and his bag slung over a shoulder.

Ron groaned as Neville shook his head, "You should tell Hermione that this isn't Hogwarts anymore, she can't come barging onto crime scenes like this." Both Ron and Neville knew that the warning was empty, that Neville was just teasing.

None the less, Ron made his way downstairs. "Hermione, I told you I had to work today…" Ron groaned in frustration.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I know, but he won't stop crying. Could you hold him for a minute Ron, he likes you." She pleaded while Teddy continued his crying rampage.

Neville watched as Ron's will crumbled under Hermione's pleading gaze. Finally, he took Teddy in his arms. "Just until he falls asleep…" He grumbled. Teddy looked up at Ron's hair and, in a fit of giggles, sported a tuft of bright red hair.

"I told you he likes you…" Hermione muttered, looking around the house, "So what have you guys found out?"

With a chuckle, Neville followed Hermione, "Not much, although Ron's pointed out that Harry's cloak and some map are missing…"

Hermione stopped, crossing her arms as she pondered, "Not many people know about the map…either someone knows about the map or-"

"Or Harry was on his way to Hogwarts before he was abducted. Ron already came up with that idea." Neville chuckled as he went into the study, only to immediately fight the urge to sneeze. "I'm guessing that Harry doesn't use this room much?"

Nodding, Hermione moved forward into the room, obviously not affected by the dust, "Harry doesn't work, so he doesn't have much need for a study, now does he?" She chuckled as she looked around the room, even getting down on all fours to look under the desk.

Neville cleared his throat, "Uh, Hermione? I know you have a knack for investigating, but maybe you should let-"

"RON!"

Neville almost jumped out of his skin at Hermione's suddenly raised voice. Soon he could hear Ron taking the stairs two at a time before rushing into the study, with Teddy in his arms.

"Do you have to yell Hermione? Teddy was almost asleep…" Ron almost whined, rocking Teddy and trying to calm him back down. Teddy seemed more interested with Ron's hair than going to sleep.

Hermione sighed, "Trust me, this is important…" She replied as she reached under the desk, pulling out a small mirror.

Neville raised an eyebrow. A mirror? What could possibly be so important about a-

"…Is that…?"

Hermione nodded, "Its Harry's mirror."

"Could one of you fill me in on what you two are on about?" Neville sighed, "I wasn't exactly blessed with inside knowledge of what goes on in your heads." He loved Ron and Hermione, and Harry too, but sometimes it was hard to get a grasp of what went on in their little microcosm.

Ron shifted Teddy to one arm while he took the mirror from Hermione, "This mirror is one in a set of two two-way mirrors. The other belonged to Sirius…after he died, Harry smashed the mirror into pieces, but kept the shards with him at all times afterward…" Ron trailed off as he examined the mirror in his hand.

"Harry must have repaired it after the war…" Hermione trailed off, getting up from the floor. "Harry would have had to have been taken by force if he left this behind."

Neville shook his head, "That doesn't make sense. If Harry was leaving, why is the mirror in the study? And if Harry was taken by force, wouldn't there be a sign of a struggle? The dust hardly looks disturbed in here…" He did have a point. The thin layer of dust everywhere was a dead giveaway that nothing had happened in the room.

Hermione crossed her arms, her eyebrows knit together in deep thought, "There has to be an explanation…"

"This isn't Harry's mirror."

Shaken from her thoughts, Hermione looked at Ron in confusion, "What are you talking about? Of course it's Harry's."

Ron only shook his head, showing the back of the mirror to Hermione and Neville.

_Sirius Black_

"So…this is Sirius' mirror?" Neville guessed, trying his best to catch up with Ron and Hermione's maze of inside information.

Ron nodded, "Aberforth must have given it back to Harry after the war…"

"Why did…you know what? I don't care," Neville threw up his hands in surrender, "I'm not going to try and understand, just tell me what it means."

Hermione snatched the mirror from Ron's hand, "If this is Sirius' mirror-"

"Then Harry still has his mirror." Ron finished, "And if Harry still has his mirror-"

"Then we can contact Harry!" Hermione finished for Ron, almost beaming at the possibility. Neville noted that even Hermione wasn't immune to the call of a possible adventure.

Ron nodded as he swayed with Teddy in his arms, "…But how do we use it?"

Hermione's face dropped into a very concentrated look, tapping her finger against her chin. Neville couldn't help but notice how, despite hose close the trio was, they each still had their own secrets, and how Harry's secrets always kept others from helping him.

"Maybe there's a spell needed to use it…" Ron muttered, although to Neville, it sounded more like his partner was thinking out loud to Hermione, who was nodding absentmindedly, lost in her own thoughts.

"Do you remember Harry ever using his mirror?" Neville hoped that he could jog his friends' memory. Neither of them replied, simply staring at the mirror in Hermione's hand. Even Teddy turned his attention from Ron's red hair to the tiny mirror. _'Great, even the baby understands this better than I do…_'

"Harry only used it once that I know of…" Ron sighed, stroking Teddy's hair.

Hermione nodded, "And all he really did was talk to it…more like yelled at it…" She stared at the mirror for another moment.

"Should we just yell at the mirror?" Ron asked, before raising his voice, "OI! HARRY! ARE YOU THERE?"

"Ron, really, I think Harry only yelled at the mirror because we were in danger." Hermione rolled her eyes as she looked at the mirror, "Harry, if you can hear us, we would really like it if you would let us know you're alright…"

The mirror did nothing, much to the frustration of everyone in the room.

Neville sighed, "Maybe we should try something-"

"DAMNIT HARRY!" Neville jumped at Hermione's sudden cursing. Even Ron covered Teddy's ears, "DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO GET INTO TROUBLE WHEN WE AREN'T WATCHING YOU? IF YOU GET HURT OR WE HAVE TO COME AFTER YOU, SO HELP ME HARRY JAMES POTTER-"

Hermione's rant was cut off when the mirror's surface suddenly went black. Neville stared in shock. To be honest, he hadn't expected the mirror to work at all, serves him right for not trusting the word of Harry's right hand man and woman.

Ron stared at the black mirror, "…Harry?"

There was no response from Harry, but they all could hear some rustling on the other side of the mirror.

Neville raised his eyebrow, "…Its in his pocket…"

Ron and Hermione nodded, "He can't hear-"

"_Hermione."_

Hermione almost jumped, "Harry? Harry, I'm right here. Where are you?"

"_What?"_ It wasn't Harry that spoke this time. Instead, it sounded more like…

"What is Harry doing with Bill and Charlie?" Ron raised an eyebrow, "Charlie is back in Romania and Bill should be with Fleur, shouldn't he?"

Hermione shook her head, "It doesn't make sense…"

"_That's Ron's girlfriend's name: Hermione Granger."_

Neville blinked, "Why wouldn't your brothers know you were dating Hermione?"

"They do…" Ron replied, growing more and more confused, "Harry's acting weird…"

"_Wicked…"_ The three (plus Teddy) jumped at the sound of Ron's voice in the mirror.

"What in Merlin's name-"

"_Not as wicked as Bill marrying a veela."_

Hermione shook her head again, as if trying to shake the confusion out of her head, "Why wouldn't you know that Bill married Fleur, you were there?"

"Forget about the details Hermione," Ron almost shouted, "Harry thinks he's with me!"

Neville nodded, "Whoever has him has Harry thinking that he's not in danger, so Harry's not going to try and leave…not without our help."

* * *

[Darkverse]

"A diary?" Lily asked, staring at the book in Harry's hand. It didn't make much sense to her, but from the look on Harry's face, the book held some untold meaning.

Harry nodded grimly, turning the book over in his hands.

"What's so special about a diary?" Moody grunted from his spot next to Dumbledore. Lily could tell that Moody was having a hard time trusting Harry, and she didn't blame him. Harry was supposed to be her son, and she was scared of him for some reason. He knew things no man his age should have ever known…

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "I must agree with Alastor, Harry. Perhaps if you could explain to the rest of us what this book meant in your world, we could better understand…"

It surprised Lily at Harry's lack of respect for Dumbledore, the way he casually sat himself on his desk, not taking his eyes off the book that Tonks had accidently stolen. She watched with the rest of the Order in silence as Harry opened the book and leafed through its pages.

Finally, Harry looked back up at the rest of the Order, "This is not just any diary, it's the diary that Tom Riddle himself kept while he was in Hogwarts." No one in the Order responded much to that information except for the occasional glance at one another and some murmurs rippling through one another. Harry noticed this and sighed, "It's also the first Horcrux I destroyed."

Lily took a step back out of instinct. That book held a portion of the Serpent King's soul? And Harry just held it as if it was no different from any other novel of reference book. In her musings, Lily had bumped into James' chest. In response, her husband wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "It's unreal…" she whispered.

James nodded, "It is a bit scary isn't it?" he whispered back. Lily didn't answer, just staring at Harry. This was supposed to be the son she never had… "Lily, the spell wouldn't have brought him here if he wasn't going to save us." He reassured her quietly, hugging her close to himself. Lily knew that James was right, she was just scared of what Harry had in mind…

"This is interesting to say the least," Dumbledore mused, watching Harry, "Now do you suppose that the Horcruxes are all the same as in your world Harry?"

Harry nodded, "If the only thing that's different in this world is that I was never born, then all but one Horcrux should be the same, they were all made before I was born…This one was made when Tom was 16."

Even Moody looked shocked at the revelation, "Are you trying to suggest that the Serpent King started killing while he was a student?"

Harry didn't flinch at Moody's rough behavior, "How would you explain Moaning Myrtle?"

Alice raised an eyebrow, "You mean that ghost that used to haunt the girls toilet?"

"The very same," Harry nodded, "That was more than 50 years ago, wasn't it Dumbledore? Her death almost caused Hogwarts to shut down" He looked straight at Dumbledore, "And Tom was about 16 when it happened, wasn't he?"

Dumbledore nodded slowly, "I was suspicious of Tom at the time…but I had no proof that Tom was behind her death…"

"Well either way, we have one of the seven Horcruxes, and that's a start." Harry muttered.

"We should destroy it now and be done with it!" Charlie Weasley urged, wary of the small book. Moody even drew his wand to do the job.

Harry shook his head, "It takes a lot more than a spell to destroy a Horcrux."

James took the opportunity to speak up, "How did you destroy it in your world Harry?"

At the simple question, Harry paused, not saying anything. To Lily he looked like he was thinking of a lie, but she didn't say anything. The boy deserved to have some privacy…provided that it didn't endanger them…

"A very strong poison." Harry responded shortly, looking at the blank pages, "Now I'll need some help with research, I need to know everything about this world's Voldemort as I can before we can find the other Horcruxes."

"Shouldn't we find a way to destroy this one before we look for the other Horcruxes?" Ron asked curiously.

"No. Not until we have all the Horcruxes." Harry replied curtly, "If we destroy one Horcrux at a time, Voldemort will know what we're up to."

Bill Weasley looked confused, "How could he possibly know?"

"Wouldn't you feel it if part of your soul died?" Lily shivered at the serious tone in Harry's voice. She had no doubt that he could save them, but she was frightened by what Harry was hiding.

* * *

'_The rebels are more crafty than I had first believed…'_ The Serpent King sat in his throne room, what was once the Great Hall, musing on what the rebels could have possibly have planned.

"Your majesty, I highly doubt that the rebels will be able to do anything with the book they have stolen." Lucius Malfoy commented from his position at the right side of the throne, "Knowing the knowledge those filth possess, it's more likely that those fools will blow themselves up."

The King turned his attention to his General, his right hand man. Lucius was everything that his empire stood for: pure blood, capable intelligence, Slytherin cunning and fierce loyalty. Although Lucius did have a tendency of being more arrogant than Tom would prefer, he was a nearly perfect follower.

"It is best not to underestimate one's opponent Lucius. That is how wars are lost." Tom took a drink of wine from his cup, going back to his thoughts of the rebels. _'How did they even know that the diary was a Horcrux? Not even my inner circle knows about them…no one knows…They must have stolen it on accident…that must be what happened...'_

A hand moved across his shoulder, causing Tom to look over at Bellatrix, "We all know that those rebels wouldn't do anything with real power, they're too frightened to use anything they deem dark." She cooed, sitting on one of the arms of the King's throne. "Especially that fool Dumbledore."

Tom noted that she did have a point, but it wasn't the spell book he was worried about.

"Regardless of they are capable or not of doing anything will become obvious in time." Draco replied from his seat at the King's feet, resting his chin on Tom's knee, "If there is one thing that the rebels can always be counted on, it's saving those they believe are in need." The smaller blonde folded his hands over Tom's lap, "They will easily reveal themselves and their motives in a time of need."

The Serpent King felt a smile tug on the corner of his mouth. If Lucius was what his empire stood for, then Draco was the crowning jewel of Slytherin. While Lucius had moments of arrogance, Draco was a perfectly molded heir, submissive enough to ease Tom's mind of any revolts, yet still more cunning than the rest of his followers combined, including Lucius.

Tom ran a hand through Draco's hair, making his heir lean to his touch, "An excellent point Draco. You are learning well."

Draco hummed contently, "I've learned from the best." He murmured.

Lucius didn't flinch at Tom's adoration of his son, in fact he gave no reaction at all while Bellatrix barely bit back a sneer at the young Malfoy.

Before either could say anything, the Serpent King spoke again, "You heard the prince. Perhaps we should cause a little chaos for the rebels to reveal themselves."

* * *

_Teehee, I had to go back to Canonverse for the sake of the plot, but I know how you guys like Darkverse so much, so I gave you a little of both. _

_And what is with Dark Draco and The Serpent King? Let's make that the question for today's post: What do _you_ think their relationship is?_

_You guys know how I love to hear your feedback, your reviews are my crack._

_Until next post!_

_slavetothepen_

ps: I've just heard that the story that inspired me to write this '_Light in the Shadows'_ was deleted b_y _the author. I do not know the author, _A Brighter Dawn, _nor do I know why this story was deleted. I just thought I should let you know._  
_


	9. Chapter 9

_Woo, that was harder to write than I thought. But I did it! I don't have much to say other than enjoy chapter 9 of _Savior's Calling!

* * *

"If I were Voldemort, where would I keep my Horcruxes?" Harry muttered to himself, paging through what little references the Order had. It was nothing more than a few newspapers really.

"It's the only information the public is allowed to have." Lily, his mother, told him as she set a stack of papers on the table.

"Makes sense" Harry grumbled, "If knowledge is power, it would be best to keep his enemies powerless."

Lily nodded, sitting next to Harry, "Luckily we kept all of these newspapers in our archive…" She said as she picked up a copy of _The Daily Prophet_.

"I wouldn't exactly call this an archive…" Harry trailed off as Lily looked at him. He forgot that this was his mother he was talking to.

"I know…but it's all we have." Lily sighed.

The two sat in silence for a while, just paging through the old newspapers. Harry would glance over at his mother, knowing that she had no idea what she was looking for yet Lily was stubbornly searching for some miraculous clue to jump out at her. With a small smile, Harry turned back to his own paper. Apparently, Voldemort didn't waste any time taking over after Neville was killed, considering that the headline for January 1st was '_New Year, New King'_. There were a lot of issues that had Voldemort on the front page and in more current issues; he was even seen drinking wine from an overly lavish cup.

_Wait a minute…_

Harry peered closer at all the front page photos. Sure enough, once he started drinking from that cup, he was never seen without it. It never even left his hand…

"He wouldn't…"

"Wouldn't what?" Harry jumped at Lily's response. To be honest, he had forgotten she was even there "What is it Harry?"

Harry showed the picture to his mother, "Do you see that cup?"

Lily nodded slowly, "The Serpent King's wine cup?" She asked quietly.

Harry nodded, "Notice how from this issue onward, he's never seen without it?" He waited for Lily to rummage through the issues.

Lily raised an eyebrow, "What does that mean? Is there something in the wine?"

"No, the wine or whatever he's drinking is just that, a drink." At Lily's confused look, Harry picked up a magnifying glass, "Look at the cup closer." Lily did as he asked, peering at the picture meticulously. After a few moments, Harry spoke again, "What do you see?"

Lily waited another moment before speaking, never taking her eyes off the photo, "It's old, that's for sure…the detail is quite nice…there's something on the side, but his hand is in the way…"

"It's an 'H'." Harry told her.

Lily looked up, "How do you know that?"

Harry sighed, "I've seen this cup before ." Lily nodded, waiting for harry to go on, "The 'H' stands for Helga, or Hufflepuff, but basically it belongs to her."

"Helga Hufflepuff?" Lily's eyes widened, "Why would he have that? Voldemort has always held Slytherin above all other houses, why would his prized possession be a possession of Hufflepuff?"

"It's not about who it belonged to." Harry shook his head, "Three of Voldemort's Horcruxes are items that belonged to the founders. One of them was this cup."

Lily looked back at the picture, "So this is-"

"Yes."

"Sweet Merlin…" Lily muttered, "…Was it like this in your world?"

To be honest, Harry wasn't expecting his mother to ask something suddenly. He cleared his throat awkwardly, "Well in my world, the cup was in a Gringotts vault…"

"Harry." Lily said quietly, "What was your life like?"

"I already told everyone my story-"

"I heard your story." Lily told him, "I want to know about you as a man." She sighed, "You lived with my sister for a few years. How was that?"

Harry chuckled, "Well…"

She smiled, "That bad?" At Harry's sheepish expression, she continued, "Petunia always wanted people to like her; she loved normal and hated magic."

"She was spurned by magic when it whose you and not her." Harry pointed out, "She was more jealous of you than angry at you. When I was left with her and Uncle Vernon, I was a reminder of what she never got to have…" Harry trailed off as Lily started laughing.

Once she quieted down, Lily smiled, "You don't have to sugarcoat everything Harry. If my sister married Vernon Dursley, then I'm sure you were miserable."

Harry smiled softly, "I lived in a cupboard under the staircase for ten years."

Lily rose an eyebrow, "That is bad."

Harry nodded, "They told me that you died in a car crash…I never knew I was a wizard."

"That sounds like Vernon…" Lily sighed, "I'm sorry you led such a horrible life."

"Who said my life was horrible?" Harry asked, paging through more papers. "Horrible things happened, I'll admit, but I had, have a good life."

Lily blinked, "You just said-"

Harry chuckled, "Yes, well as much as I dreaded when my cousin wanted to play _Harry-hunting_, the Dursleys were a small part of my life." He smiled softly, "Hogwarts was a big part of my life once I got my letter. I have a lot of happy memories there, a lot of friends."

She smiled softly, "What house were you sorted into?"

With a smile, Harry leaned back in his chair, "I was sorted into Gryffindor, with some reluctance from the Sorting Hat."

"Reluctance?" His mother raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

Harry paused for a moment to think of how to explain himself. "Well, the Sorting Hat told me that I would have done well in Slytherin."

"Slytherin?" Lily asked, shocked. Harry nodded, expecting her reaction, "Why Slytherin?"

"Part of being a Horcrux meant I had some characteristics of his, enough to cause the Sorting Hat to consider the possibility. Of course I told it to put me in Gryffindor."

"I didn't realize that the Sorting Hat took requests." Both Lily and Harry turned to see James standing in the doorway, watching them with his one good eye.

While James approached the table, Harry chuckled, "It usually doesn't, but in the case of two possible houses, it will usually trust your judgment."

"Harry was in Gryffindor James." Lily smiled softly, almost repeating the information for the sake of hearing it again. Harry smiled at her in return.

James nodded and as he sat down, Harry could see how stiff James acted around him, and could see how James was struggling with Harry's presence as his son. It was oddly comforting that he wasn't the only one adjusting to change, "Did you play Quidditch at all Harry?" He asked, clearing his throat.

At Harry's wide grin, Lily chuckled, "Should I leave you two to bond?"

Harry laughed, "No, don't leave," Lily's joked had lightened the mood for Harry, which he was grateful for, "I actually became the youngest Seeker of the century."

"Seeker?" James smiled softly, "I was a Chaser in my years at Hogwarts. I remember in my sixth year, I-"

"Harry please," Harry looked over at Lily, who had a pleading look on her face, "If you're the savior, please save me from listening to James' Quidditch stories."

James furrowed his eyebrows, "Oi! Those are great stories!"

"James, I was there for all of them!" Lily teased. The two bickered a bit back and forth, more teasing more than argueing. Harry was glad that even a war didn't affect a husband and wife's ability to bicker and tease.

Seeing Harry's smile, James chuckled, "Sorry you have to us argue like this."

Harry shook his head, "Don't worry about it. In fact, I'm just glad everyone can talk about things besides the war."

Both James and Lily nodded, looking from each other to Harry, "I haven't talked about Quidditch in ages…" said James, lips tugging into a smile before looking at the newspapers. "Have you found anything?"

Lily blinked, "Oh!" she chuckled before showing her husband the photo, "It's the cup."

"The cup?"

"It's Helga Hufflepuff's."

"Helga Hufflepuff's?"

"Yeah, it was a Horcrux in my world."

"That's…unreal…"

Harry nodded, watching his father process the information. His one hazel eye was focused intently on the newspapers. Which reminded Harry… "Can I ask you something?"

James nodded, "Of course Harry, what is it?"

Harry laughed sheepishly, "What happened…to uh…" Harry was at a loss for words, so he gestured to his face, waving his hand over his eye.

"My eye?" James chuckled at Harry's sheepish expression. Harry watched as James touched the leather of his eye patch. Lily sat next to him, quietly holding his free hand. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to ask… "I was on a mission to retrieve information from the Embassy, what used to be the Ministry of Magic." James stared, interrupting Harry's train of thought, "All magical references were taken to Castle Slytherin- Hogwarts." He added, seeing Harry's expression, "But Dumbledore wanted me to retrieve the archive files, to see what books were now at Castle Slytherin."

"I had a bad feeling about the mission to begin with…" Lily muttered.

James nodded, "But I went, Dumbledore needed the archive files. The mission itself was easy, I should have realized that it was too easy…when I came out of the archives, Deatheaters were waiting for me, led by the King Cobra."

"Voldemort?" Harry found himself asking.

Lily shook her head, "Lucius Malfoy."

"Malfoy is Voldemort's right hand man, his general and confidant." James explained, "And since he was waiting for me, it meant that someone had alerted the Deatheaters of our plans. Of course I'd find out later that Peter had been spying for quite some time…little rat."

Harry clenched his fist in anger, but said nothing. _'Some things never change…'_

"I was able to survive the fight pretty well, a got a couple cuts and burns, but I was able to stun my way out of the heat of the battle." James shook his head, "I was running full sprint to the Portkey and…damnit, something compelled me to look over my shoulder to check my back…"

Harry waited while James shook his head, "That damn King Cobra got my eye."

"Was it a severing charm?" Harry asked, almost disgusted that he was so curious.

James kept shaking his head, "No, he plucked it right out…I was barely able to get to the Portkey in my pain…"

Harry's stomach flipped inside out. And as horrible as it was, Harry was glad that Pettigrew's betrayal had only cost his father his eye, not his life.

"Luckily, Dumbledore was able to fix my remaining eye to make up for depth perception, so I can see fine." James sighed, "And he got his files…which now that I think about it, that's probably how we found the book that brought you to us Harry."

Harry smiled softly, "Was it worth it then?"

There was a moment of silence that Harry and James just stared at each other. Finally, James smiled softly, "Yeah…more than worth it."

Harry broke out into a smile, enjoying the warm moment with his parents.

Unfortunately for the newly formed family, the sound of a roaring fire bursting to life in the next room shook them from their happy thoughts.

"What's happening?" Harry asked, standing up.

James was already halfway out the door already, "Someone's calling us through the Floo…it must be urgent…"

By the time the Potter family got to the study, the entire Order was standing around the fireplace, Dumbledore standing in front of them all. From where Harry stood, he could see the face of Angelina Johnson looking frantically at Dumbledore.

"_Sir, Dementors are attacking Hogsmeade!"_

Harry stifled a groan. Why was it always Dementors?

"Miss Johnson, am I correct in assuming your companions are out fighting?" Dumbledore asked calmly, watching her evenly.

"_Yes, Cedric and Cho are defending the town while Seamus and Dean are evacuating civilians. Oliver has been trying to keep the Dementors from attacking civilians, but we need help!"_

"Miss Johnson, how many Dementors do you think there are?"

Angelina shook her head quickly, "_I've got to say at least a hundred!_"

Dumbledore nodded, "Help is on the way Miss Johnson, please continue to stay alive."

The fire went dead as Angelina ended the Floo connection. Dumbledore turned to face the Order.

"So who's going?" Moody grunted.

Dumbledore barely took a moment before answering, "Remus, Lily, Sirius, Charlie, Bill and James."

"Why only so many?" Harry asked, surprised.

Moody looked at him, "They're only Dementors, which means that the Deatheaters may very well be somewhere else. We need the rest of the Order in case this turns out to be a diversion."

Harry blinked. "That makes sense…" he muttered, "I should go too." Harry added. He really should had known he would have been met by objections from Dumbledore, Lily, Molly, James and pretty much anyone who had grown fond of him.

"It's too dangerous!"

"You're too important!"

"You could get hurt!"

Harry rolled his eyes, "You all realize that there is no point in summoning me to end your war if you won't let me fight, right?" There was silence that greeted him, which he was grateful for, "Thank you, now if you don't mind, there are people desperately waiting for us."

"But-"

"No buts," Harry interrupted, "This is my war now too, and I will fight...besides, all those people were my friends in my world, I'd rather not stand aside and let them die."

Dumbledore stared at Harry for a moment. The Order held its breath as he finally nodded, "Very well Harry, I just hope you are prepared for what's in store."

Harry nodded, "More than you realize."

* * *

Hogsmead was definitely not the same place that Harry remembered, but he should have expected that, after all, the wizarding world was run by Voldemort.

"Sirius, Remus, Charlie, go help Cedric and Cho!" James shouted the moment they arrived at Hogsmead, wasting no time in taking charge, "Lily, you and Bill need to help Seamus and Dean evacuate the town!"

Harry watched as the two groups ran off, no questions asked. He supposed that so many years of defending Deatheater and Dementor attacks made them well rehearsed in what to do, "What do you want me to do?"

James looked at Harry before taking off in the opposite direction that the rest had run off to. Harry chased after him, trying his best to keep up, "We're helping Oliver defended civilians. And if he's alone right now, he could already be gone."

It was bleak to hear his father talk about his old Quidditch captain, but he said nothing. Harry could feel his heart pounding in his chest and couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of a fight. He hadn't been this full of adrenaline since his last conversation with Voldemort. But Harry didn't have time to reminisce. He needed all he could just to run after James as they saw Oliver defending the entrance of the Three Broomsticks. A shiver ran down Harry's spine as the Dementors presence began to take effect. No matter how many times Harry dealt with Dementors, or how many he dealt with at one time, the feeling was still as sobering as ever.

"James!" Oliver called out, " 'bout time ya showed up!" The young Scotsman cast a patronus at an oncoming Dementor that was tormenting a small family. The wolf that sprung from Oliver's wand was able to push the Dementor back a ways, but it wasn't long before the patronus dissipated.

"I need help!" Oliver shouted. James rushed to Oliver's aid, casting his own patronus. The two began to push the Dementors back away from the Three Broomsticks. Harry couldn't help but notice that it took both men several attempts at their patronus to even push them far enough back for the civilians to get out of the building and start running down the street.

'_They can't find happy enough memories…'_ Harry realized. It seemed almost obvious to him that years for being a rebel couldn't possibly bring too many happy memories.

"Harry!" Harry jolted out of his train of thought as James yelled at him, "Don't just stand there! Help!" James and Oliver ran past him, escorting the civilians as they ran to Seamus and Dean, staying behind the group to protect them from any Dementors that may try and follow them. "Harry, are you listening to me?"

As James looked back at Harry, Harry could see the Dementors moving to block their paths. They were running straight to them.

Harry's pulse beat loudly in his head as he ran after James and Oliver. "Watch out!"

A woman's scream ripped through the night. Harry felt his blood run cold as the Dementors closed in around them

"_HARRY!"_

Harry's heart stopped, '_Not again…'_ he thought. This was not the time to hear his mother's voice, especially since she was alive in this world.

_Alive…his parents were alive…_

Harry raised his wand, opening his mouth.

* * *

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

James' one eye widened as Harry shouted at the top of his lungs, only to cover his good eye with his arm as white light erupted from Harry's wand. It was only when the patronus had passed that James was able to see that the Dementors were being torn apart by…

'_No…is that…'_ James lowered his wand as he watched the blinding white stag barrel down Hogsmead, attacking and chasing off any Dementor it came in contact with. "…His patronus is Prongs?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, It is." Harry replied. James almost jumped out of his skin, he had been so focused on the patronus that he hadn't heard his son come up behind him.

"Oi, an' who might 'cho be?" Oliver asked, trying to catch his breath.

Harry cleared his throat, "I'm…well I'm er…"

"This is Harry, Oliver." James interrupted, "My son." Even though he had one eye, James could see Harry's face brighten at the mention of James considering him his son.

Oliver raised an eyebrow, "Didn' realize 'cho ha' a son, James." He said evenly.

Harry chuckled, "I've been kept out of the war until recently. For protections sake."

If Oliver thought Harry was lying, he didn't say so. "We better hurry and see if the others are alright." James said, already making his way to the other side of Hogsmead, only to find that Harry's patronus had done a better job than the rest of them combined.

"James!" James turned to see Lily rushing toward him, "You're alright!"

He couldn't help but chuckled, "Of course I am Lily, are you going to assume that I'm not every time we go on a mission?"

"Of course she is." Sirius laughed as the last of the civilians ran to safety, "I've got to hand it to you James, I didn't think your patronus was that aggressive."

James shook his head, "It wasn't mine…Harry cast the patronus."

"Harry did?" Remus looked over at Harry. The Order members that knew Harry already understood now just how powerful Harry was when he needed to be.

"Will someone explain to me who Harry is?" James looked over at Cedric, only to notice that Harry was staring intently at the young man as well.

"_That was the first time I saw someone die_…_Luckily, I was able to escape with Cedric's body."_

_Oh_. James realized that Cedric Diggory was in fact the first murder Harry had witnessed…It must be like seeing a ghost…

"James, are you listening to me?" Lily huffed. James chuckled slightly at his wife's chastising.

Bill shook his head, "Cedric, this is Harry. He's new to the Order…"

"Funny, James said Harry was 'is son…" Oliver commented, making sure that Dean and Seamus were uninjured.

Lily looked at James, before looking back at Cedric, "Harry is our son Oliver, don't you see the family resemblance?"

Cedric was more skeptical than Oliver, "You've never mentioned having a son before…"

"That was for his own protection." James replied, "He lived with Lily's sister until he was of age…we didn't want him growing up in this war…"

There was a tense moment that Cedric stared at Harry intently, as if looking for any reason to doubt him. James was glad when Cedric extended a hand to Harry, "Welcome Harry…"

Harry and Cedric had barely started shaking hands when an all too familiar cackle was heard. James' heart dropped into his stomach everyone turned to face the sound.

"You rebels are so cute with your white magic and meaningless sacrifice." Cooed none other than the Black Mamba herself, but it wasn't her presence nor the way she mocked them as she sauntered towards them that made them grip their wands in anger.

It was seeing her wand pressed against Cho Chang's neck. The look of terror on Cho's face was enough to curdle anyone's blood.

"Cho!" James heard Cedric shout in distress.

This only made the Black Mamba giggle sadistically, "Listen to that. Do you _love _her?" At Cedric's pained expression, she cooed happily, "He does, how adorably sickening." Her voice suddenly took a serious tone, "Drop your wands. All of you."

James grit his teeth in anger, but dropped his wand. Slowly, everyone else did as well…except Harry. James could see anger and hatred in Harry's eyes, it was quite unnerving to see on such a young man.

"Don't think I haven't forgotten about you boy." A twisted smile spread across the Black Mamba's face, "_Expelliarmus!"_ James could only watch as Harry's wand flew from his hand and into hers.

With both wands in her hand, Bellatrix, the damned Black Mamba, shoved Cho to the ground in front of her. But Cedric couldn't move two steps to her before the Deatheater pointed her wand at the trembling girl.

"Now," She cackled, "To think you rebels would go through all the trouble of using such powerful magic, only to reveal your plans to us so soon?"

James grit his teeth as the Black Mamba leered at everyone, making sure to keep her wand close to Cho. Her eyes stopped on Harry, and James had to stifle a gasp.

_She would know about Harry_…

"So you must be the one that resulted from the 'dark magic'." She cooed at Harry, who was glaring back at her. "To think that such power is wasted."

"Who says anything has been wasted?" Harry snarled. James could see the dark look in Harry's eyes, and was glad Harry was not his enemy.

"You've been created by the wrong side." She laughed at Harry, "You have power to be sure, but you're on the side that is too weak to use it!"

James cast another glance at Harry, only to see that the darkness in Harry's eyes had faded. In fact, Harry wasn't even looking at her face. Instead, he seemed more focused on…

"You lot are helpless in the face of true power." A manic look flickered across the Black Mamba's face as she looked back at Cho, "Just like now. _Cru-"_

"_SECTUMSEMPRA!"_ The rage behind Harry's voice was earth moving, but James had never heard or seen a spell like the one he was witnessing. Bellatrix's body looked like she was being attacked by swords, knives, anything sharp. As the Black Mamba's bloody body fell backwards into the dirt, there was no doubt in James' mind that Harry had just preformed incredibly dark magic.

And it scared James.

But Harry wasn't done with her, he rushed past Cho, who was already in Cedric's arms by now, and crouched over the bloody Deatheater, searching her body for something... James moved to catch up with Harry as the young man pried his wand from Bellatrix' hand. There was something else clutched in his other hand, but James couldn't see it properly.

"Don't tell me what true power is, bitch." Harry said darkly, gripping his wand tightly. James then saw that the Black Mamba was still very much alive, as her wand hand started moving.

"Harry, look ou-!"

"_CONFRINGO!"_

Harry was blasted past the entire Order, his body hitting the side of a building before crumpling on the ground, in flames.

Lily and Remus rushed to put Harry out while the rest of them stood their ground as the Black Mamba stood, ready to strike again.

"I'll _kill _you." She hissed, her eyes filled with malice, "I'LL KILL YOU A-" She stopped, crying out in pain. At first, James believed Harry had wounded her too much for her to continue, but at the sight of seeing her clutch her left arm, he knew what was happening.

The King had summoned her.

"Just you wait…you'll all get yours…" With one last glare, she Disapparated away, probably to her master's side at Castle Slytherin. James stood in shock at what happened, not sure to be grateful or terrified.

"_James!_" Lily screamed, causing James to turn his attention to Harry, brave but reckless Harry.

"We need to get out of here now!" Sirius called, pulling out their Portkey. Even the Hogsmead members grabbed hold of the Portkey, just as shaken with the events of the past few minutes as James was.

* * *

"Well…that was interesting, wasn't it?" Despite having his Dementors destroyed and his right hand lady defeated, the Serpent King had a twisted smile on his face. Beside him, his prince stood watching alongside the king from their perch on one of the Hogsmead buildings.

"They are reckless." Draco chuckled, watching as the rebels disappeared, "They show their hand too quickly, now we know all the cards."

Voldemort chuckled, taking a sip of wine from his beloved cup, "Yes, about that…what do you think of their creation? Is it a man or a monster?"

"Most definitely a _man,"_ Draco's eyes gleamed as his lips pulled into a smirk, "Most likely crafted with the blood of one of their own."

Voldemort nodded, smirking, "If my eyes are not deceiving me, then I would suggest that he was created using James Potter's blood, if not his flesh as well."

"Human sacrifice, how out of character for the rebels, they must be desperate," The prince grinned, "Have you heard of men being created by magic?"

"I will admit, I've never had the need to use such a spell." The King admitted, "But it does not seem beyond the realm of possibility…especially if the rebels have managed it."

"Of course, if those scum can do it, then I suppose anyone can." The Taipan sneered, "But as much as I would hate to admit it, he seems to be very powerful. He alone has done what the rebels had not been able to do. He's shown great strength in white, as well as black, magic."

"The fact he was crafted using black magic is all the more opportunity for us to have him join us. The rebels will not be able to control him for long."

Draco watched as the rebels extinguished their crafted man with interest, "I want him."

"We will have him with time Draco, he just needs temptation." The King reassured him.

"No, I _want_ him." Draco repeated, "I want to see him up close, I want to play with him."

Voldemort smirked at his heir, holding his wine cup out to the young man, "You always did end up breaking your toys Draco."

"You make that sound like a bad thing, my King." The Taipan smirked before taking a drink from the King's cup.

* * *

"Harry, didn't we tell you that you would get hurt?" Lily shouted frantically. It didn't matter if he was her son or not, she hated seeing anyone hurt for reckless actions. She had nearly had a fit when James had returned with a missing eye.

Harry winced as Molly treated his burns with what salve they had, "It was worth it."

"How was it worth it? What could have possibly made you almost getting blasted to bits worth it?" Lily scolded, tearing off burnt cloths from Harry's body while James came with fresh bandages. The rest of the Order stood watching, hoping that Harry wouldn't die.

Harry only smiled, holding his hand over Lily's. Lily looked at Harry curiously, but allowed him to drop what was in his clenched fist into her palm.

"What is this?" She murmured as she turned the heavy locket over in her hand, only to stare at the green, serpentine '_S'_ on the front.

Harry grinned, "Guess what the '_S_' stands for."

* * *

_Teehee, yay for action! I was actually really afraid that my action scenes would fall flat, hence why it took me so long to write. _

_I'm surprised at how many people think that Taipan!Draco is Voldemort's booty call...you know what, I'm not surprised actually. They're creepy and they got more screen time (not a whole lot, but it is more)!_

_Hm...question of the post...oh! Who do you think is the most awesome Order member?_

_You all know I love snorting your reviews like crack!_

_Until next post,_

_slavetothepen  
_


	10. Chapter 10

_Blech. I hope you guys are grateful, I feel sick right now. I literally was writing this chapter, got sick and threw up, then came back to finish this chapter. You're welcome._

_But now that I'm done whining and moaning, I actually liked how this chaptered turned out so far. So here you go, chapter 10 of _Savior's Calling!_  
_

* * *

[Canonverse]

"Are you sure this will work Hermione?" Ron grumbled, watching his girlfriend turn Harry's study into an Ancient Runes project.

Hermione looked over at Ron before rearranging the stones she had set up on the floor, "Of course it'll work Ron. It's a very simple locating spell. One of the first we learned in Ancient Runes class."

"I didn't take Ancient Runes Hermione." Ron commented.

"Neither did I." Neville muttered, watching Hermione form a circle around Harry's mirror using stones with runes carved into them. The circle was fairly widespread, taking up much of the floor of the study, and Hermione had used chalk to connect various runes and add more of her own. Although the fact Hermione kept looking at a text book while she worked was a bit unnerving…

"Don't you know the spell well enough to not use a book?" Ron complained, trying to pry Teddy's hands from his hair. The tiny boy clung fast to Ron's head, squealing as he tangled his fists in the mass of red hair.

Hermione shook her Head, "I haven't taken Ancient Runes since third year Ron, forgive me if I'm a bit fuzzy. What do you boys remember from third year?"

Neville shrugged, "Nothing specific…" He murmured. He had learned a lot in the past seven years, and it was hard to remember in which year he learned what.

Ron smiled, wrestling with Teddy's hands, "That's the year we met Lupin."

Neville could see the warm smile shared between Ron and his girlfriend, and couldn't help but be confused. Yes, Lupin had been a wonder Defense against the Dark Arts professor, second only to Harry in Neville's mind, but to Ron and Hermione, there was a deeper meaning.

Maybe it was the fact that Ron was holding Lupin's son…

"Anyway…" Hermione turned back to her work, "I'm using the book so I get all the details correct."

"Hermione, when have you ever gotten details incorrect?" Ron laughed. This only made Hermione smile softly, blushing.

Neville rolled his eyes, "I thought you two were dating already, do you need to flirt still?"

"Neville!" Hermione Blushed brightly, "We're not flirting…"

"You are." Neville chuckled, watching his friends.

Ron smiled brightly, "Don't mind him, Hermione, he's just jealous." Ron gave a triumphant laugh as he managed to free Teddy's hands from his hair, "Don't worry Neville, you'll understand when you get your own girl."

The idea of Ron offering Neville dating advice was humorous to say the least, considering his disastrous relationship with Lavender and taking so long to finally start dating Hermione. So Neville's laughter was not completely uncalled for and Hermione's laughter only added insult to Ron's injury.

Ron grumbled, "Just finish the rune, Hermione."

* * *

'_Why is this so hard?'_ Draco Malfoy thought to himself as he stood on the stoop of number 12 Grimmauld Place, debating to himself on whether to enter the house or not.

When he had gotten over the shock of Harry's disappearance, Draco had obsessed over his last conversation with Harry, trying to find some clue as to where he might have vanished to. Then Draco remembered what Harry had said when Draco had asked if he was enjoying his life.

"_Not as much as I had hoped"_

_Not as much as he had hoped?_ _Was Harry unhappy? Was he just bored?_ Regardless of the reason, Draco knew he should tell Harry's friends, in case they would know where Harry would go for an adventure.

Harry…when had he stop calling him 'Potter' or 'Scar Head'?

_Probably when he saved your life from the Fiendfyre…_Draco mused, _…I probably started calling him Harry when he saved Mother and I…_

When Draco had first gone to the Aurors to tell them what he knew, he wasn't surprised to find that Weasley and Longbottom were the Aurors on the case. Of course Weasley would insist on taking his friends case, he would be the most motivated to locate Harry, and Longbottom would do whatever his partner wanted. Through his own way of spying, he had learned that the two were investigating Harry's house, number 12 Grimmauld Place. A house that only the few under the _Fidelius _could get into.

Lucky Draco. He really should thank Harry for inviting him to his house when Harry taught him wandless magic.

Draco sighed, resting his hand on the doorknob. It was odd coming to this house the first time, when Harry had offered to teach him wandless magic, seeing as this house could have easily had been his… Even now, Draco hesitated to enter the old house, slightly nervous due to the fact that Harry wouldn't be waiting there for him…

With a deep breath, Draco opened the door. He was relieved with no wards or alarms went off, which was good. He would hate to be taken in as a suspect in his savior's disappearance.

Had he just called Harry his savior? Draco shook his head, vowing never to admit such a thing out loud as he looked around the house. While Harry was a slob when it came to his personal space, Draco had to admit Harry could keep a public space…livable, especially seeing as he tried to limit the amount of work his house elf did.

Weasley and Longbottom were upstairs; Draco could hear their voices from where he was standing. Had they found something? There was only one way to find out… Slowly, Draco made his way up the stairs, past an oddly quiet portrait of Walburga Black, and onto the second story landing, where it sounded like the voices were coming from the study.

'_Odd_,_ Harry rarely goes in the study…' _Draco ignored how odd it was for him to remember such specific information about Harry, instead he started walking towards the noises.

He could hear laughter, which wasn't odd in the slightest. Gryffindors in general were nothing if not happy, Draco noticed, they always found something to be happy about…maybe there was a reason they became such forces to be reckoned with…

"Just finish the rune Hermione." He could hear Weasley say. Ah, so that meant that Granger was there as well.

_Rune…why would Granger be doing runes in Harry's study?_ Before he could stop himself, Draco pushed open the door to the study.

Longbottom was sitting at the desk, watching with an amused look on his round face while Granger was on the floor, creating what appeared to be a rune centered around…was that a pocket watch? No, a mirror, the rune was around a mirror, and Granger was working on it with chalk and rune stones. Weasley appeared to be holding a baby as he laughed and chatted with his girlfriend and partner.

It didn't take long before Longbottom noticed Draco's presence, and when he finally did, the reaction was amusing to say the least.

"M-Malfoy!" And here Draco thought Longbottom was over that stutter. Perhaps he had simply been caught off guard.

Weasley on the other hand, didn't seem to be any different, "What are you doing in here Malfoy? How did you get in here?"

Draco sighed, "Obviously Weasley, if I managed to get in here, then Harry trusted me enough to invite me into his home."

Weasley turned red in the ears as Longbottom muttered, "He does have a point…"

But Draco wasn't listening to the two partners and the baby chatter. He was staring at Granger, more importantly at the rune she was using, he recognized that rune…

"Are you trying to find something Granger?" He asked, walking closer to the chalk circle, much to Weasley's dismay.

"Oi! You-"

"Relax Ron," Granger shook her head at her boyfriend, "Yes Draco, we are." She looked back at the Ancient Runes text she was referencing, "This mirror is part of a set. Harry has the other one on him, so we should be able to find Harry with this locating spell…"

Draco nodded, watching Granger work. She hadn't missed any details, even in the chalk, she had made sure each line was bold enough to channel the magic needed. There was something about the spell through…

"You're using the wrong spell…" Draco stated.

Weasley turned red, "What the hel-"

"Ron! Don't swear in front of the baby!" Longbottom shushed his partner, who looked ready to strangle Draco.

Granger looked at her work, "What do you mean? This is the locating spell, straight out of the book…"

"True, this is a locating spell. But this spell was designed to bring items to the caster, not find living beings," Draco pointed to the runes Granger had arranged, "Note how the runes say 'something' not 'someone' there and 'bring to me' instead of 'find for me' here?" Draco knelt by Grangers book, flipping through several pages of the book, "Here's the spell you want."

Weasley looked indignant, "Now stop right there, Malfoy. Hermione is always-"

"He's right Ron."

Draco stifled a smile at Weasley and Longbottom's expressions at Hermione's admission.

"What do you mean, Hermione?" Weasley asked. Draco was surprised that a three word sentence needed further explanation, but it was Weasley…

Granger was reading the spell that Draco had pointed out for her, "Draco took more years of Ancient Runes, so he would know more than I would. But…" Draco raised an eyebrow as her sentence trailed off.

"But what?" Longbottom asked, standing up.

Granger shook her head, "Draco…it says here that this spell needs blood to work properly…" She looked uneasy, "Could it be possible to use animal blood?"

Draco paused, thinking to himself, "…I suppose you could…"

She sighed, "Thank goodness." Granger looked at Longbottom, "Neville, I think Harry had some beef in the kitchen, could you get it for me?"

Longbottom nodded, heading back downstairs to fetch the raw meat. Only after Longbottom left did a foul odor fill the air, causing Draco to sniff in disgust, wrinkling his nose. Surely Longbottom didn't…

"Ron, I think Teddy needs to be changed." Granger said lightly. It was then Draco remembered the baby in Weasley's arms. Yes, that did make much more sense… even if the smell was just as foul.

Weasley grimaces, "Yeah, you're right…c'mon Teddy. Let's get you out of that disgusting nappy…" The redhead trailed off as he too walked downstairs, leaving Draco alone with Granger.

The silence held a certain awkward element to it as the two stared at each other. Finally, Granger turned back to her work, turning the runes from saying 'something' into 'someone'. She reached out to erase the 'bring to me'-

"OH SWEET MERLIN! WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME IS THAT, TEDDY? HERMIONE! HELP!"

Both Granger and Draco jumped at Weasley's shouting. The muggleborn witch quickly stood, dusting chalk off her hands, "What is it with men and changing diapers?" She muttered as she too left the room, leaving Draco by himself.

With the spell that could find Harry.

Or bring Harry to them.

Or bring _him_ to Harry.

Draco wasn't a Slytherin for nothing, he knew an opportunity when he saw it. Before Hermione had even made her way to the stairs, Draco was changing 'bring to me' to 'bring me to'. It wasn't that hard, just rearranging some stones, redrawing some lines, erasing some old ones. He was suddenly glad he had taken more than one year of Ancient Runes. He certainly didn't have time to look up in the book on every little detail. Runes work was about the right wording…

Soon Draco stood in the center of a new spell, one that could bring him to Harry. If Harry was off having an adventure, Draco wanted to be with him. He didn't want to stay here in the mundane world of people pointing and staring, of whispers and silent accusations. He wanted to have an adventure like Harry always had. He wanted to be with the one person would stood up for him. He wanted to be with Harry.

Taking a deep breath, Draco removed one of the gloves from his hands. He knew far too well that this spell could never take animal blood, especially long dead, long cold blood. No, this spell needed fresh, hot human blood. For a human spell, human blood was needed and Draco would give it. The blonde looked at his hand before biting it. Hard. It took a few gnawing bites before Draco finally tore the skin of his hand, pooling his precious blood in his hand.

"Draco!" The blonde looked up to see Granger and Weasley in the doorway with the baby, and he could hear Longbottom on his way up the stairs to investigate Granger's shouts. "What are you doing?"

_Going to Harry, _Draco mused, tipping his hand to pour the blood on the spell.

The three adults rushed the room, trying to stop Draco, "NO!"

_Plip ,plip, plip_

* * *

[Darkverse]

"Harry, you had better explain yourself!" Lily Potter was more than a little upset, Harry could tell. And to be honest, he didn't exactly blame her.

Dumbledore stood by Harry's bed, "I'm afraid I agree with Lily, Harry. While we understand you have your secrets, we would like for you to better inform us on what exactly we've brought upon us in bringing you here."

Harry sighed, nursing his burnt sholder. "You're right. Even with my life story, I didn't tell you a lot about me…"

Cedric looked around, "Wait, so you're not James' son?"

James sighed, "He is, but…it's a really long story Cedric. I'll explain later."

"But Harry's going to explain what happened right now." Sirius nodded, watching Harry. Harry suddenly felt like a child who had done a very naughty thing.

_Well, I suppose doing a dark spell is a naughty thing to do…_ Harry mused. "What do you want to know?" He asked.

"Everything." Sirius said.

Harry shook his head, "More specific."

James looked at him, "Your patronus…why is it…?" Lily and the other two Marauders nodded softly, understanding what James was asking '_Why is it Prongs?'_

"Yeh, I ain't ever seen a pa'ronus tha' strong before." Oliver asked, which diverted the Order's attention from the shape of the patronus to the sheer power of it.

Harry sighed, "When I was 13, Dementors were common around Hogwarts." He could see Angelina open her mouth to ask a question, but Dumbledore raised a hand to stop her, "And Dementors have always affected me…strongly."

"How so?" Charlie asked, curious.

"They make me relive the night that my parents were killed."

Cedric shook his head, "But-"

"Let him finish Mr. Diggory." Dumbledore interrupted evenly, "I will explain to you what has happened since our last meeting."

Harry nodded in thanks to Dumbledore, "So one of my professors took me aside and taught me the patronus charm. I've always just had a habit of being good at them, especially when the ones I love are in danger." Harry had decided to omit the occasion he had simply cast a patronus to showboat for his O.W.L.s for the sake of making sense.

Dumbledore nodded, seeming to except this as a legitimate explanation.

"But what about the Black Mamba?" Cho whispered, burying herself in Cedric's arms. Harry sighed, ignoring how awkward it was to see her again.

"She's evil?" He muttered.

"She took your wand Harry!" Remus raised his voice, "Where did you learn wandless magic like that?"

At this Harry groaned, knowing that there was no reasonable answer for this, "To be honest, after the war-" Here, Oliver tried to chime in with a question, but was stopped by Dumbledore, "After the war…I was bored…"

"You were…bored?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow. Harry winced, having only seen that look from Mrs. Weasley before.

Harry shrunk back into his bed, "Yeah, I was bored. I wanted a challenge, so I taught myself wandless magic."

There was a good minute or so that no one said anything, they just stared at Harry. Except Dumbledore, he just sat with his eyes twinkling as usual.

Bill sighed, "Alright then, but please tell me that you weren't 'bored' enough to learn dark magic…" He sent Harry a very warning glare.

In that moment, Harry wanted nothing more than to have his Invisibility Cloak back, "No… that one I learned when I was 16… It was in a book and all that was written next to it was 'for enemies'. I was horrified when I first cast it and saw what it did. I had sworn I would never use that spell again…but when I saw Bellatrix, I just saw red…"

"Don't we all?" Sirius rolled his eyes.

Cedric picked up the locked, "What I don't understand is why this locket was so important? Do you have a habit of collecting trophies from your opponents?"

Harry decided to ignore how ironic Cedric's statement was, "No…the 'S' on the locket stands for Slytherin." There was a collective gasp throughout the room, except for James, Lily and Dumbledore. James and Lily already knew the gist of what was happening and Dumbledore…he just seemed unaffected by anything. "And yes, it is a Horcrux. That was part of the reason I decided to attack Bellatrix."

"What was the other part?" James asked, curious.

"Well besides the obvious fact that she was going to '_Crucio'_ Cho, I really hate that woman…" Harry grit his teeth, "I didn't get the pleasure of killing her in my world and-"

"Will someone PLEASE explain what in Merlin's name is going on, NOW?" Cedric growled in frustration. Oliver and the rest of the Hogsmead Order nodded in a confused agreement.

Harry sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Here's the short version: I'm from a parallel reality where I've already defeated Voldemort or the Serpent King, you guys summoned me with a dark spell and I'm here to save the day…again."

Cedric looked like Harry had said '_I kissed your girlfriend just months after you were murdered'_ and Harry made note to never mention that fact to Cedric. He and Cho looked happy together.

"You're…what now?" Angelina asked, stunned. She looked to Dumbledore, "Sir, is he serious?"

Harry resisted the urge to point at Sirius and say _'no, he is'_ as Dumbledore nodded, "While I wish Harry here had not been so blunt, he does in fact speak the truth." Dumbledore sighed, "Harry here is in fact the Savior that was brought to us from the tome Nymphadora stole for us."

Cedric was taken aback, "Tonk's mission, it was for a spell?"

The old man nodded, "Yes Mr. Diggory, a spell that has brought Harry to us. Harry is already making progress in defeating the Serpent King. You see, the King is-"

A shockwave rippled through the room, causing Harry to shudder. He wasn't sure what had just happened, but he didn't think it was exactly a good thing.

Frantic footsteps raced to the door and Percy Weasley threw open the door, "Dumbledore sir, someone's gotten through the wards!"

The Order jolted upright in attention, even Harry, as Dumbledore asked further, "Is anyone hurt?"

"No sign of Frank, Fred and George are down and I can't find Ron anywhere!" Percy said frantically. Bill and Charlie gripped their wands at the mention of someone hurting their little brothers.

Moody took charge, "Alright then. If it's a fight they want, we'll show those intruders what the Order of the Phoenix is about!"

* * *

_Tada! I really outdid myself, I put not one, but TWO cliffhangers in one chapter! How talented do you have to be to do that? No but really, you all hate me don't you?_

_Moving on to the question of the post! Q: What's your most and least favorite Horcrux? Now this can be the coolest object or the best story or the best destruction._

_My favorite Horcrux was Nagini because she killed Snape XD and I hated the diadem. To me, it was like J.K. Rowling was like 'This story is going great...oh crap I forgot a Horcrux...I'll just squeeze it in this chapter and throw in a scene where Harry saves Draco for the fangirls'_

_Forgive me if this post has typos, it's three in the morning here. But I work through it all because I love you guys! And you guys are my drug dealers of reviews._

_Until next post!_

_slavetothepen  
_


	11. Chapter 11

_Woo, I was really excited to write this chapter, but I got a little distracted because I was visiting family this weekend. I haven't seen them in 8 weeks, so there was bonding that was needed. I want to say how much I love you guys because chapter 10 of _Savior's Calling _got 62 reviews, which is huge for a single chapter in a single week! So thank you guys! But enough about that! Here's _Savior's Calling, Chapter 11!

* * *

The throne room of Castle Slytherin was eerily silent, as none of its usual inhabitants were present. It was well into the night and those who resided in the castle had long since retired to their own beds.

Well, with the exception of one.

'_I must commend the rebels.' _Draco Malfoy, the Taipan, the Serpent Prince, thought to himself as he lounged in the King's throne. By the side of the throne, there stood a pedestal holding the pensive of the Serpent King. Not that it held any memories of the King himself, no; those memories were kept safe in his majesty's mind. This pensive was for the viewing pleasure of the King, memories from every attack, every torture and every kill made by the King's followers. _'They have outdone themselves with this masterpiece.'_

The Prince sat watching the memory the attack they had made that night, more specifically, the rebels' secret weapon.

The look on the rebels' faces as their prized weapon unleashed such a strong attack of dark magic made a smile tempt to cross the Taipan's face. It was a shame through, that the Prince couldn't see the rebels' real faces. It had been years since any of the Kings followers had seen their enemies face, the rebels had taken to placing their own identities under the _Fidelius_ charm. Now only those who had set foot in the rebel headquarters could see their real faces and hear their real names. To those loyal to the King, the Taipan included, the rebels looked like complete strangers and referred to themselves using gibberish names like "Prodigal" and "Mirage". It was annoying at best, infuriating at worst.

But their weapon was not under the _Fidelius_, that much was certain. His features were too striking, too…perfect. _'What fools,'_ Thought the Prince, _'To waste such power.'_

The King had told him that their weapon looked like a known rebel by the name of James Potter, and since the Taipan had no idea what James Potter looked like, he would have to resort to the memories of James Potter before he underwent the _Fidelius. _How ironic that James Potter's last known appearance was at the Embassy, where he had his eye plucked out by Lucius Malfoy.

The memory was thrilling to watch and the Prince had to applaud his father, the marksmanship was perfect. He could understand why his father kept the hazel eye in a jar in his private quarters. Such a trophy deserved respect, even the Taipan knew that.

But more importantly, he was able to see the man the King was referring to as the weapons model. At first glance, the weapon-man did look like he had been fashioned out of James Potter's corpse, but on closer inspection, the Prince noticed that the man he was watching was far more perfect than James Potter could have achieved in life. For one thing, James Potter was aging, graying, wrinkling, decaying; while the weapon- no, the _man_ the Taipan watched was young, his hair black as ebony and untamed- perfect for pulling. His body was also lean and fair- he probably bruised easily- but there was still an element of masculinity to him, if the way he had cursed Bellatrix was anything to go by.

'_And those_ eyes' The Taipan stared at the dark expression of the rebels' prized man. '_Eyes that have held witness to darkness, eyes that are as green as the killing curse itself.' _He smiled to himself. Eyes the color of _Aveda Kedavra,_ how could those rebels not have noticed the dark beauty of the man? The man with _Aveda_ green eyes…

'_He's so complex…_' The Prince watched over and over again as his obsession shouted the dark curse _'SECTUMSEMPRA!'_

'_SECTUMSEMPRA!'_

'_Sectumsempra…'_

"Sectumsempra." The Prince murmured to himself, "Sectumsempra… SecT-um Sempra…Sec-Tem-Sem-Pra…" The word tingled on his lips and tongue, especially when his lips popped at the enunciation of '-Pra'. If it felt this good to say, how pleasurable would the curse be to cast? When he got his hands on the perfect man, the Prince would have him teach him the curse…as well as other things….

"Not getting too comfortable are you?" A cold voice interrupted the Prince from his thoughts. The blonde man turned to face his King, looking down at him with unreadable expression.

The Prince blinked, "My King, I was just-"

"Getting comfortable in my throne."

Pale grey eyes widened as the Taipan all but threw himself off the throne and knelt before the King, "I would never question your reign, my King."

Voldemort ignored the gesture, instead moving to sit on his throne. The Prince waited until his king was seated before getting off his knees, moving to the King's right hand.

"He's even better up close, is he?" Voldemort chuckled darkly, watching the dark haired rebel in the pensive.

The Prince grinned maniacally, "Like you wouldn't believe. James Potter is nothing compared to this perfection."

"Careful Draco." The King gave the Taipan a warning gaze, his red eyes narrowing, "Try to avoid complimenting the enemy too much. After all, they did go through such lengths to create your eye candy."

The Taipan sneered at the suggestion, "Who said anything about complimenting the enemy? I was admiring the use of the Dark Arts, as you yourself are doing as well."

If it had been any other follower, chances were that Voldemort would have _Cucio_'ed them within an inch of their lives for such an answer. But this was his Prince, the young man had learned much from him…even if he had a habit of using his forked tongue liberally.

Instead, the King settled more comfortably in his throne, "True enough…" He drawled, his attention drawn back to the man in the pensive. He was young, perhaps younger than his heir, and nearly flawless. Of course the King had noticed the scar that was etched onto the green eyed man's forehead. It was obviously a mark from a dark spell…there was also some sort of mark on each of his hand, but there was no way to tell what they were for sure.

"He's beautiful isn't he?" Voldemort turned his attention to Draco, who was eyeing the man greedily, "The rage in his voice, the hatred in his eyes…it's delightful…" The blonde nearly purred as he stared at the pensive. It was almost nauseating…

"When you're quite done undressing the enemy with your eyes Draco, I'd like to discuss our next form of attack." Voldemort watched his heir calmly, "What news of Bellatrix?"

The young blonde sighed, "She's still being treated by Severus, and she's out for blood of course." He chuckled darkly, "But she doesn't get to have him. He's mine."

The King smirked, taking a drink of wine from his cup, "Don't you have other toys you can play with?"

"The servants are boring; they do what I say out of fear. And they aren't perfect like he is." The Taipan reasoned, "He's powerful and I want hi-"

Before the Prince could continue, a ripple was felt throughout the castle. Not strong enough to cause any damage, but enough to cause the Prince to hitch in his breath. The familiar sensation of magic could be felt in the aftermath of the ripple.

"Well," The King smirked as the rippling began to fade, "This makes things so much more interesting…"

The Taipan shivered in delight, "They made another one?"

Voldemort suppressed the urge to laugh at his heir's action. He was acting like he was a virgin thinking his first dirty thought… The King could only wonder what the Prince had in store for the rebel weapon, "It would seem that way…" He took another drink of his wine, lazily watching the green eyed weapon in the pensive.

"I am curious to see who among the rebels gave their lives to give their weapon a body…" The Prince murmured, thinking of possibilities for the new weapon.

The King nodded, offering his wine cup once again to his heir, "As am I…"

The Taipan took the cup with gratitude, holding it in both his own hands as he drank. The King watched in twisted fascination as his heir's alabaster throat contracted and moved as the young man drank, his Adams apple bobbing with a youthful vitality with each gulp.

"_As am I…"_

* * *

'_Ug…my head…'_ Ron Weasley groaned, holding his head with one hand and his eyes squeezed shut, _'I'm gunna kill Malfoy…'_ Whatever the blonde had done, it had sure done a number on Ron's head. The poor redhead felt like a herd of hippogriffs had stampeded on his forehead. With another groan, Ron opened his eyes.

Only to realize that it was just as dark with his eyes open as it was with his eyes closed. _'That doesn't make any sense…' _Ron thought to himself as he sat up, _'Harry's study has plenty of windows and it was the middle of the day…'_ It didn't make sense to Ron in the slightest. That was until he felt the cold stone beneath him _'Harry's study also has hardwood floors…not stone…'_ Ron decided that it would be best to find his wand so he could see better. After some blind fumbling, the redhead was able to grasp his wand.

"_Lumos,"_ He muttered. The glow from Ron's wand revealed that they were no longer in Harry's study. The cold stone wasn't just on the floors, but they reached up the walls and covered the staircase that led up from the dungeon they were in.

_Dungeon…that's what it was… _On closer inspection, Ron could see Neville and Hermione close to where he was sitting, Hermione clinging to a very still Teddy, and Malfoy had somehow landed across the room. He knew that before any other exploration and investigation could be done, he needed to make sure that everyone was alright.

Quietly, Ron made his way to Hermione, more concerned with his girlfriend and the small baby than with the other two men. "Hermione…Hermione…" He gently nudged the young witch's shoulder, hoping that she would be alright. Judging by the way her chest was rising and falling rhythmically, she didn't seem to be in any critical danger. But he could never be sure…

Ron breathed a sigh of relief when Hermione stirred, her eyebrows furrowed, "Ron…" She muttered, "What is it…?"

"Hermione, you need to get up." Ron said quietly, "I think we may be in a spot of trouble…"

The bushy haired woman sat up, squinting her eyes in the dark. Teddy had yet to wake up in her arms, but to Ron, he appeared to be sleeping peacefully. "Where are we Ronald?" Hermione asked, looking around the dungeon before reaching for her own wand.

Ron shook his head, "I have no idea Hermione…definitely not in Harry's study anymore." He muttered, "Do you want to wake up Neville or Malfoy?" He asked, helping Hermione to her feet.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You take Neville…I'm going to give Malfoy a piece of my mind…" She murmured, walking over to where Malfoy's body was laying.

With a chuckle, Ron turned his attention to his partner, taking Neville's shoulders and giving them a good shake, "C'mon Neville, time to wake up." He grumbled.

Neville was much more reluctant to wake up than Hermione was, merely rolling away from Ron when he started shaking his shoulders. Ron rolled his eyes, gripping his wand in his teeth, the redhead shook his partner harder until Neville woke up, "Stop shaking me Ron…" He grumbled.

Ron rolled his eyes again, taking his wand out of his mouth, "This isn't the time for a nap, Neville." He helped Neville stand on his own two feet, "Malfoy's spell has somehow gotten us into some dungeon somewhere…" At the mention of Malfoy, Ron chuckled, "Hey Hermione, is the ferret awake yet?" He turned, expecting Hermione to be hexing Malfoy within an inch of his life.

Which made it all the stranger when he saw his girlfriend standing over the blonde's body, her glowing wand limp at her side.

"…Hermione?" Ron asked, Neville at his side, "Are you alright?"

Hermione pointed down at Malfoy, "Look…" she whispered.

As Ron and Neville got closer, they could see that Malfoy was laying in the center of a dark stain on the floor, a stain that had several smears on it…

"It's blood…" Hermione said quietly, "its dried blood…"

Ron could hear Neville take a step back. He didn't blame his partner; the sight was unnerving at best. Beyond the dried blood, Ron could see black ink painting the cold stone, twisting in designs and runes that he didn't even know existed and stretched nearly from wall to wall. "Is..is it his?" He asked quietly, looking back at Hermione.

Hermione shook her head, "I don't think so, it looks too old to be his…" she muttered, although Ron wasn't sure if it was to convince him or herself. She carefully shook Malfoy's shoulder, "Draco…Draco?"

To Ron and Neville's great relief, Malfoy began to move, a pale hand moving to his head, "Dear Merlin," he said quietly, "Why must everyone be so loud?"

"Well it's your own fault Malfoy." Ron muttered, "Whatever you did in Harry's study brought us here…wherever here is…"

Malfoy looked around, confused, "I don't understand…this was-"

The blonde stopped when the adults heard the sound of footsteps above their heads. They weren't alone in the building. Ron gripped his wand tightly.

"Hermione, keep watch of Teddy." He told her quietly, "You and Malfoy take cover in the corner."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Ron you know I can help."

"Women and children need to be kept safe," Neville replied, "So that applies to you and Teddy. Ron and I are the Aurors here, let us take care of you."

"Then why am I hiding?" Malfoy asked, his eyebrow quirked.

"We all know you can't use a wand. You're pretty much useless." Ron retorted, "Just hide in the corner; I can hear people coming…"

Indeed, voices could be heard from the other side of the door.

"Boys, you shouldn't be going down there! You don't know how many intruders there are!" They could hear a man's voice shouting.

A more youthful voice answered, "Then come with us!"

"We're tired of sitting on the side lines!" Another echoed. There were three then, Ron noted, one man older than the other. He nodded to Neville, who moved to crouch behind the stairs while Ron knelt at the base of the stairs. Hermione had surprisingly done as Ron had asked, dragging Malfoy into the corner while Ron waited.

"Fine…but let me go first boys." The older voice replied.

The door opened slowly, and a single male figure made his way down the stairs. Ron kept his wand lit, but even then, he couldn't see the details of the man's face. But he could definitely see the wand pointed directly at him. The light from Ron's wand had exposed where he had been kneeling.

"Put the wand down!" The man said sternly, making his way down the stairs.

Ron shook his head, raising his wand slightly.

The man wasn't going to let Ron cast a spell, "_Expel-"_

"_Stupefy!"_ Neville shouted from his hiding spot, stunning the man before he could disarm Ron. Ron quickly moved as the man crumpled on the stairs.

Before the man could even finish collapsing onto the staircase, the two younger men raced in, both of them looking frantic.

"_Stupefy!"_

"_Stupefy!"_ Both Ron and Neville were able to hit their attackers, watching them fall to the floor next to the first man.

Hermione rushed over, holding a waking Teddy in her arms, "That was…good work you two…" She admitted, trying to keep Teddy from crying too much, which seemed unlikely, if Teddy's headache was as bad as the adults.

Ron beamed at Hermione's complement, surging him into full Auror mindset. Malfoy stood back from Ron and Neville as they dragged the three men away from the stairs. Not that Ron cared, Malfoy could stay in the corner for all he cared, "What's the status of Enemy 1 Neville?"

Silence.

"Neville?" Ron looked over at Neville, who was supposed to be taking their enemy's wand and checking to see if he had any other magical devices on him, "Neville, don't just stand there…Neville?"

Neville was standing over the older man; hand over his mouth in horror. His wand had almost fallen from his shaky grip. Ron couldn't see why Neville was so shook up about it… "Neville, pull yourself together." Ron said evenly, hoping to sound calm for Neville.

"…It's my dad…" Neville nearly whispered.

Hermione gasped, "What? Neville, are you sure?" Ron blinked, not sure if he had heard Neville correctly. Frank Longbottom wasn't even capable of forming a complete sentence, let alone nearly attacking Ron…

Neville nodded, "I saw him just a few hours ago at St. Mungo's Hermione. He looks different, but I know my dad…"

Ron didn't want to tell Neville that it was impossible for this to be Frank, that it was most likely an imposter, but he knew that he would most likely have to…

"Hey Weasley, you might want to look at the other two here." Malfoy said in his even drawl, standing over the other two attackers.

Ron looked over at Malfoy.

And stared.

Both the young men had heads full of red hair: Weasley red hair. Ron dropped to his knees, trying to get a better look at both of them "This is impossible…" He whispered.

"George isn't missing his ear…" Hermione noted.

"I was more amazed at the fact that Fred's alive Hermione…" Ron shook his head, "No, Fred's not alive because this isn't Fred anymore than this is George or that's Frank."

Neville tore himself away from the man who was impersonating his father, "You're right Ron." He took a deep breath, "We need to-"

"Fred?" A voice asked from the top of the stairs, causing the four adults in the dungeon to freeze, "George? Are you guys alright?"

This time it was Hermione who cast the stunner at the new enemy, almost giving a redundancy to the tumble down the stairs the new body made.

"Lets see who this person's trying to be…" Ron murmured, rolling the body over onto his back.

And almost swallowed his tongue.

"Ron?" Hermione asked, "Ron, who is it?"

Ron swallowed, "Its me…" he said quietly. He could feel the others crowding in behind him to get a better look at his doppelganger. Ron couldn't help but notice that there were differences between himself and the fake Ron; the stunned Ron had longer hair, not as well cared for, and his face was smudged with dirt.

"He looks like-"

"Malfoy, if you finish that sentence, I will make you wish that was your blood on the floor." Ron muttered darkly, standing up. "Well…at least we know that this where Harry is…"

"Of course it is." Ron looked at Malfoy. The blonde ignored the glare Ron gave him and continued, "The spell I cast was designed to bring us to Harry…"

"And we heard Harry on his mirror talking to you Ron…or rather this Ron…" Neville murmured.

Ron looked up the staircase, at the door, "So Harry's up there…we've just got to get him."

Hermione nodded, handing Teddy to Malfoy, "You stay down here with Teddy, Draco."

The blonde looked at Teddy in confusion, "Why me?"

"Like Ron said; without your wand, you're pretty much useless."

* * *

At the word 'intruder', the entire Order sprang to attention. And with Moody in charge, there would be no mercy.

'_Of course' _Sirius thought, _'There will be no mercy even if Moody wasn't in charge…after all, the Weasleys are involved here…'_

Most of the Order members were racing down the stairs to confront the intruders at Moody's declaration. Dumbledore stayed behind, and James and Lily had their hands full keeping Harry in his bed.

"I can fight!" Harry protested.

"You're hurt." Lily said simply, "There are more than enough members to take care of the intruders."

"We don't know that Lily." Sirius blurted before he could stop himself, "We have no idea how many intruders there are."

Lily sent Sirius a dirty glare as Harry tried again to get out of his bed, "See? You guys summoned me here for a reason and-"

"We fell for that argument last time." James pushed Harry back down onto his bed, "And you got lit on fire for your troubles."

"So what?" Harry argued. Sirius honestly had trouble finding a good response to Harry's question. "People get hurt all the time, this is a war! I can't stop just because I have a little burn!"

"Little burn?" Lily asked in frustration, "Harry, you're whole body was on fire and you collided with a stone building!"

"I've had worse."

"I don't care." Lily crossed her arms, "You're not getting out of that bed Harry."

Sirius chuckled. For being one to have only recently been introduced to motherhood, Lily sure was taking it in stride…maybe it was all those years around Molly Weasley and her never-ending supply of children…

Sirius had long since tuned out the Potter's argument, instead listening to the Order as they made their way downstairs. He could head Kingsley and Moody giving instructions to capture, not kill. Of course Moody always did have a loose definition of 'capture'…to him, it was almost a synonym for 'maim'.

The fight was starting downstairs; Sirius could hear it with his canine sensitive ears. The headquarters was most likely being torn to bits from the curses and hexes being thrown. Moody had obviously been itching for a duel…he almost pitied the intruders.

A particularly loud blast had caused not only Sirius, but also James, Lily and Harry to turn their attention downstairs. The Potters may not have noticed, but Sirius no longer heard Moody's voice. _'They got Moody?'_ He thought to himself, alarmed. _'There are definitely more than we thought'_ "I'm going down there!" He called, turning to go.

"I am too!" Harry stated, forcing himself out of bed, "And don't push me back into bed, you keep hurting my burns." He muttered. "I'm 18 you know, you better let me act like it."

Sirius resisted the urge to chuckle as James, having no idea how to respond to a grown son, let Harry climb out of bed and rush after Sirius.

"How bad is it?" Harry asked as they walked downstairs.

Sirius had his wand drawn, "I'm not sure, but Moody is down for sure. I can recognize that voice a mile away." He stated, nearly leaping down the stairs. Harry was hot on his heels as they made to the first floor.

It was chaos to be certain. Curses were flying in every direction, Sirius had to duck to avoid a stray stunner. He could see Moody's body in the corner, but was unsure if he was stunned or dead.

From what Sirius could see, there were only three of the enemy forces fighting, two men and a woman, but they were clearly three of the best. The shorter of the men was keeping Tonks and Remus at bay while he stunned Cedric and avoided being disarmed by Bill. His face was round and almost innocent looking, but clearly looks were deceiving…if Pettigrew had been any example to Sirius.

The woman on the other hand, reminded Sirius of his cousin Bellatrix…well at least her hair did. He couldn't see much of her besides the back of her bushy head while she avoided being stunned by both Charlie and Percy and managed to disarm Kingsley. Sirius noted that whenever she seemed to be close to being stunned or disarmed, the second man would step in and defend her

The second man… the second man was much taller than the other two, and a bit more gangly with red-

_Oh no…Ron?_ Sirius felt his heart drop to his stomach as he watched Ron Weasley fight against his own parents. Had he betrayed them all? Was he the one who let the other two in? No… Sirius noted on closer inspection that the Ron before them was too well groomed, almost like.

_Like he had grown up in a castle, not a war._

In almost relief, Sirius realized that this Ron was an imposter from the Serpent King. But Molly and Arthur seemed reluctant to cast a spell on their youngest son, even if he wasn't really their son.

Sirius was about to stun the imposter himself when Harry pushed past him, his hands raised. Sirius had to fight the urge to brace himself for the magic Harry was about to unleash…

"STOP!" The teen shouted loudly.

Stop? Sirius stared at Harry. Had he really just yelled for the fighting to stop? Who in their right mind would-

Sirius blinked as all three intruders stopped and stared at Harry, shocking the Order members just as much. Had Harry actually stunned them all with wandless, encoded magic? It didn't make much sense to Sirius, but with Harry-

"Harry!" The female intruder cried gleefully, smiling brightly. Sirius looked at her, positive that she wasn't an Order member or anyone that should have known about Harry…

To everyones surprise, Harry rushed to the intruders, giving the female a welcome embrace. "Hermione!" He laughed joyfully, "How did you find me?"

Sirius realized that with Harry, nothing could ever be simple.

* * *

_Forgive me if you felt cheated by that ending, it's 3am here, and I'm sleepy lol. But I hope you enjoyed the chapter!_

_Question: Why do you think Lucius Malfoy keeps James Potter's eye in his bedroom? _

_Wow, that just screams for odd answers lol._

_Well I'm tired and you guys know reviews are my crack! Seriously, I love snorting them._

_slavetothepen_


	12. Chapter 12

_Here I am again! Writing another chapter because I love all of you! Before I get started letting you read, guess what?_

_76._

_That's right, 76. As in 76 reviews for a single chapter in a single week. And funny enough, this puts _Savior's Calling_ exactly 100 reviews behind _New Leaf to Turn._ Now I'm not going to beg for reviews, because reviews are just a perk of writing. Do I love them? Heck yes I do, but I'm not going to force anyone to review simply for the sake of reviewing. If you want to review, then review, if you don't want to, don't! I know I rarely review anything lol._

_This chapter is also a landmark because with this chapter, _Savior's Calling_ officially becomes my longest story _wordwise_. _New Leaf to Turn _still has one more chapter than this, but wordwise..._

_One last note before I let you read, I _will **not**_ be updating next week. I am visiting a friend that weekend, but I will be back the following weekend._

_Now that that's done, onto chapter 12 of _Savior's Calling!_  
_

* * *

Ron breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw Harry hug Hermione and the fighting had stopped. Leave it to Harry to get himself into the most bizarre situations.

'_Although…_' Ron thought, gripping his wand tightly, looking around warily, _'I must say that this is the strangest adventure I've seen with Harry to date…'_ He could tell that Neville was also uneasy about being surrounded by all the friends they had left at home, dead and alive. _'But Harry doesn't seem to be bothered by anything here…that is _if_ that is Harry…'_

The man that Hermione was clinging to sure looked enough like Harry: messy black hair, green eyes with the same glasses Harry always wore, still pale, still shorter than Ron himself and still had his trademark scar…

But there was something wrong with Harry, that much was obvious. Ron could see the burns on Harry's body, which he would investigate to be sure, and Harry didn't even bat an eyelash at the fact that he was standing mere feet from someone impersonating his godfather…

"Ron, are you going to stand there all day?" Harry chuckled, "You can relax here, you're among friends."

Ron didn't loosen his grip on his wand, and he could see Neville hadn't either.

"Harry, you do realize half of the people in this room are dead?" Neville asked quietly, shooting nervous looks around the room at the people.

Hermione had finally let go of Harry, who had repressed his pained expressions for her sake, and looked around as well, "Harry…what's going on?"

"I could ask the same thing."

Ron turned to find himself staring at the end of Bill's wand, Charlie and Percy raising their own wands as well. When Neville tried to raise his wand to help Ron, Charlie pointed his wand at Neville in warning.

Harry stepped forward, "Bill, Charlie, you can relax. Ron isn't-"

"That's not our brother Harry," Charlie said, his wand still pointed at Neville, "How can you all just forget that these three attacked Ron and the twins?"

"Frank's still missing too…" Alice said quietly. Ron could see Neville twitch uncomfortably, but he said nothing.

"What did you do to the real Ron?" Percy asked, his eyebrows furrowed tightly over his glasses. It was definitely an expression that Ron had never seen on his brother before, at least not on Percy.

But Ron couldn't think too much on Percy's expression, he was far too confused, "What are you talking about? I am Ron! The imposter is in the dungeon!"

"Dungeon?" Bill jabbed his wand at Ron's neck, "Are you telling me my brothers are in Castle Slytherin?"

"Castle _what?"_ Ron shook his head. Surely he heard wrong, had he just heard Bill say Castle _Slytherin?_

Bill grit his teeth, "Don't play dumb!" he snarled.

Harry rushed forward, grabbing Bill's wrist, "He's not playing dumb, Bill!" Ron watched as Harry forced Bill's arm down, "He really has no idea what you're talking about!"

"Harry, we know we owe you a lot," Charlie said evenly, "But this imposter even admitted that our brothers are in the dungeons!"

"Yeah, YOUR dungeons!" Ron shouted, confused and frustrated. This was getting too confusing for his taste "And they attacked us!"

"You're the intruders! They were good men!" Bill argued.

"We didn't intrude!" Hermione shouted back, "We don't even know where we are!"

Percy turned on Hermione, "You sure had no problem attacking us!"

"You lot attacked us first!" Neville insisted.

"You're the enemy here!" Charlie jabbed his wand at Neville's neck.

Hermione shook her head, "We just came to find Harry!"

Harry cleared his throat, "If I could interrupt…"

Bill ignored Harry, "So you can bring him back to your master, no doubt!"

"Master? What in Merlin's name are you talking about?" Ron was getting a headache from all the shouting. Of course the situation wasn't helping in the slightest….

"Don't pretend you don't know!" Percy said coldly. Ron was starting to remember why Percy had a tendency of getting on his nerves…

"We don't have to pretend!" Neville looked just as confused as Ron felt. It was almost like a horrible prank that everyone was playing on them. If it weren't for the fact that Ron could clearly see Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody and Nymphadora Tonks, all of whom were clearly dead, he may have thought this was a prank.

"So who are really under your disguises?" Bill insisted.

Ron sighed. This was getting old, and he was hungry, "Look, I have no idea what you're talking about. I really am-"

Both sides of the argument stopped when Teddy's laughter could be heard from the dungeon below. The entire room turned to look at the open door that led downstairs.

"A baby?" The woman impersonating Ron's mother asked.

Harry looked at Ron, "Teddy?"

Ron nodded, "Someone had to watch him while you were off with…whoever these people are."

"You left my godson alone in the basement?" Harry asked, "Whose bright idea was that?"

"He's not alone Harry," Neville tried to explain things to Harry, "Malfoy's down there with him, he's watching…well he's watching Ron, Fred and George and-"

Neville's sentence was lost when the rest of the room heard the word 'Malfoy'. Bill and Charlie were racing to get down in the basement, the rest of the imposters were close behind them.

And Ron was still confused.

* * *

'_Please stop crying…'_ Draco thought desperately, looking down at the crying baby in his arms. Teddy's hair was an awkward shade of brown, almost making him look sickly, and his face was bright red and dripping with tears and mucus. "Oh for the love of Merlin... _Silencio._"

He probably should have felt bad about silencing the infant instead of comforting him, but what did he know about children? Draco had been an only child, the aunt that hadn't been disowned had never had children, _thank Merlin,_ and no proper pure-blood family ever had more children than they absolutely needed to.

Except the Weasleys, but they had a category of their own.

Draco sighed and looked around, rocking Teddy in his arms. The basement was dark without the light from Weasley and Longbottom's wands, the only light coming from the open door. Draco could still see that the four bodies on the floor were still stunned, so he wouldn't have to worry about them waking up anytime soon. He had already collected their wands in case Weasley's stunning abilities weren't up to par.

'_Of course they will be up to par, he's been by Harry's side for years…'_ Draco mused, kicking aside the piles of wands as he looked at Teddy again. '_Let's see…Teddy is the grandson of my aunt, son of my cousin…does that make him my second cousin? No…first cousin, once removed…that sounds right….'_

To be honest, Draco was bored. He wanted to find Harry too, but Weasley and Granger had declared him 'useless' because he didn't have a wand. Typical…but it would have been a well founded judgment…

If it hadn't been for Harry.

'_It's always about Harry isn't it?'_ Draco thought. There was probably a time when Draco would have been resentful for the way attention gravitated towards Harry, when he would make some snide comment about 'Saint Potter' or 'Scar head' or perhaps insult Granger and Weasley. But that was in the past and his traumatic experience with the Deatheaters may or may not have played a part of Draco's newly found humility…that and Harry saving his life.

Draco smirked as Teddy calmed down, only to grimace when the baby wiped his dripping nose on his shirt.

"Don't push your luck, kid." Draco grumbled. Teddy looked up at Draco, holding onto his shirt. Then the infant scrunched up his face and for a moment Draco feared he might have to change a diaper.

But then Teddy's hair turned from the murky brown to Draco's shade of light blonde. Draco chuckled, "You're too young to be a brown-noser kid…but you have class, so I'll let you have your voice back."

Draco took the silencing charm off of the infant, who cooed cutely with his new hair. The blonde baby began to giggle loudly, bouncing in Draco's arms. '_Well what do you know?'_ Draco thought, '_Maybe I'm better with kids than I thought…'_

The sound of arguing could be heard upstairs, but Draco didn't care to listen in. Chances were that everything would be explained to him later, and there was no point in only hearing some information and making a rash decision based on it. It was when things got quiet that Draco started to get concerned.

"A baby?" Draco was sure that he heard Molly Weasley's voice, which made little sense to him.

"Teddy?" Draco perked at the sound of Harry's voice. Harry was here, which meant that Draco's spell had worked! A smile tried to cross Draco's face, but years of being trained to be a Malfoy had somewhat stunted his ability to stretch his lips that far.

Instead, he got an awkward toothy smirk, which made Teddy stop giggling. Draco quickly stopped trying to smile and reached up and touched his cheeks. He definitely needed to make sure he could smile before he tried to attempt to do so next time.

"Someone had to watch him while you were off with…whoever these people are." Draco raised an eyebrow as Weasley spoke, absentmindedly bouncing Teddy in his arms.

"You left my godson alone in the basement? Whose bright idea was that?" Harry sounded irritated at Weasley, which made Draco smirk, before all of Harry's words sunk in. Teddy was Harry's godson? Draco hadn't known that…he was aware that Harry had been friends with his cousin Nymphadora and their former professor, the werewolf, but it hadn't crossed Draco's mind that Harry was father material…

'_Godfather material,'_ Draco corrected himself, looking down at Teddy.

"He's not alone Harry," It was Longbottom who spoke this time, Draco noted, "Malfoy's down there with him, he's watching…well he's watching Ron, Fred and George and-"

There was a stampede in the room above, and Draco wasn't sure exactly how many people were actually in the building…but he was aware that they were coming downstairs.

Draco turned away from the stunned bodies on the floor and towards the staircase.

Just in time to narrowly avoid a jet of bright red light as it streaked past his ear and into the wall behind him.

'_I'm being attacked!'_ Draco's eyes widened as he looked up at a trio of murderous looking Weasleys. '_Oh sweet Merlin, how many older brothers does Weasley have?'_

Before Draco could think any farther, another curse was shot at him. Teddy was screaming in his arms as Draco ran out of cursing range and into the corner of the dungeon. _'I take back every Weasley joke I've ever made, just don't let them kill me!'_

Just when he thought he was going to get retribution for his Hogwarts years of teasing Weasley, the rest of the stampede rushed down the stairs. It was odd because it looked like the entire Order of the Phoenix was piling into the dungeon…including those he knew were quite dead. Most notably his former professor, who looked more ragged and tired than he had before he had been killed.

But instead of stopping the bloodthirsty Weasleys, the adults looked at Draco before raising their wands and cursing at him.

'_They're cursing me while I'm holding a baby!'_ Draco thought, raising his hand quickly, "_Protego!"_

The shield was able to deflect most of the curses, giving Draco the chance to adjust his grip on Teddy so he could cast spells better. He was now glad he had let Harry talk him into learning wandless magic, he just never thought that he would have to use it against people who were already dead…

"_Bombarda!"_

"_Protego!"_

"_Stupefy!"_

"_Expelliarmus!"_

"_Duro!"_

"_Protego!" 'Protego…Protego…Dear Merlin, they're going to kill Teddy and I!'_ Draco thought, terrified for himself as well as for the crying child in his arms. There were just too many people attacking him for Draco to fight them all off… with one last shield, Draco turned his back to his attackers, hoping to maybe shield Teddy with his body, _'Please don't let it hurt too much…'_

But no pain came. There was a long period of quiet where no curses were thrown, no shouting, only the sounds of Teddy's crying and heavy breathing could be heard. Curious, Draco turned his head to look behind him.

Only so see the back of a very familiar head of black hair.

'_Harry…'_ Draco felt his lips tug and resisted the urge to attempt to smile, lest he frighten Teddy even more, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief and, dare he say it, _joy_ at the sight of the Gryffindor hero…but perhaps it was the fact that he was the reason Draco wasn't dead yet.

"Harry, step aside," One of the older Weasleys, Casper or Charlemagne or something, growled. Draco couldn't remember the man's name, only that he looked like he could possibly break the blonde in half with his bare hands.

Harry shook his head, keeping his arms out wide, "None of these people are your enemies Charlie. I've been trying to tell all of you that!"

Sirius Black, who was supposed to be dead, looked at Harry with a stunned expression, "But Harry, he's-"

"Trust me!" Harry insisted, "They're all from my world."

'_His world?'_ Draco thought, curious. He shook his head, instead turning to comfort Teddy again.

"Harry…" Arthur Weasley started, wary.

Harry slowly put his arms, "Just give me 10 minutes to explain everything to them. If we haven't come out of the basement in 10 minutes, you can come down after us…please, just trust me."

The Order looked skeptical. With a sigh, Harry pointed at Draco, "How many Deatheaters do you know would protect a baby with their own lives?"

Finally, the adults consented to Harry's request and managed to drag the rabid Weasleys up the stairs, pausing only to gather the bodies of the stunned before leaving Harry with Draco, Teddy, Weasley, Granger and Longbottom.

"Harry," Granger sighed, "Please, just tell us what's going on."

Harry took a deep breath, "You're not going to believe this, but…"

* * *

"…and that's why everyone is still alive for the most part." Harry watched his friends' reactions as he finished explaining everything to them, waiting for a backlash of questions and comments.

Hermione looked like she had discovered a new section of the library, but it was all in a forign language. Ron just looked like he wanted to go to bed…or eat his weight in food… then go to bed.

Neville looked to be in shock, and Harry didn't blame him. Ron and Hermione were at least used to be dragged on odd adventures more than once. Neville had only gone with him so far as the Ministry of Magic. And it didn't help that he was hearing his parents voices for the first time.

Draco looked like he was taking the news rather well. He didn't look like he wanted to insist on going home or exclaim that he didn't belong in a war…and the way he was holding Teddy, he looked like he belonged in the kitchen.

The mere image of Draco in a kitchen almost made Harry snort, but he knew it was not the time or place for such things.

"We better get upstairs to the rest of the Order, they'll want an explanation as well…," Harry sighed, "Damn it, now I'm starting to understand why Dumbledore avoided explaining things, it's so exhausting…"

Ron chuckled, "You gunna start talking in riddles too mate?"

Harry shook his head, "There isn't enough firewhiskey in the world to get me that drunk Ron."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Boys…" she muttered.

Harry chuckled, "Come on, let's-"

The door to the basement opened and Harry could see Tonks standing in the doorway.

"Time's up Harry." She said.

Harry smiled, "Perfect, we were just heading up." He looked back at his friends, only to have his eyes stay on Neville. Suddenly his heart dropped into his stomach. The moment Neville would be introduced, Alice and Frank may very well attack Neville in a fit of joy and tears…and Neville wouldn't even know why. "On second thought, Tonks could you take Hermione, Ron and Draco up to the study? I'll be up in a moment." He rested a hand on Neville's shoulder.

Tonks raised an eyebrow, "Why do you call me by my surname?" she shrugged, "But oh well, come along. Dumbledore is eager to meet you all."

Hermione and Ron looked at Harry before heading up the stairs, Draco close behind them.

"Ron, make sure no one kills Draco, he's holding my godson." Harry joked, and Ron rolled his eyes before leaving with Tonks and the others.

Neville looked at Harry, "Thanks Harry…I think I needed a little more time to comprehend what's happening…"

Harry sighed, "Neville, there's something else I need to tell you, just you." He knew that Neville may be shocked or horrified at what Harry was about to tell him, but Harry knew what it felt like to go into a situation blind, and he wanted Neville to know everything he needed to.

"What could you possibly have to tell me that you wouldn't tell Hermione or Ron?" Neville blinked, confused to say the least.

Harry sat down on the bottom step of the stair case, "Have a seat Neville…this could be a long story…"

The other man looked at him oddly, but none the less sat down beside Harry.

Harry took a deep breath, "You remember in fifth year when we fought at the Ministry over that prophecy?" He decided to start simple and work from there.

Neville nodded, "Of course, the one that talked about you being the one to kill Voldemort." He smiled, "It was the first time I felt like I was a Gryffindor…"

Harry cleared his throat, trying not to let Neville's heartfelt moment distract him, "Well that's not exactly what it said. It talked about who could be the one to defeat Voldemort…" At Neville's confused expression, Harry continued, "He would be born at the end of July, to parents who had defied Voldemort three times and lived to tell about it-"

"Harry." Harry looked at Neville, "Why are you telling me this Harry?"

"Because Neville," Harry closed his eyes tiredly, "At the time the prophecy was told, back when my parents were killed, there were two boys that fit that criteria."

Neville raises his eyebrows, "There was someone else who could have defeated Voldemort? Who?"

Harry opened his eyes and looked evenly at Neville, "When's your birthday Neville?"

"Its…the 30th of July…" Neville's eyes widened, "Harry surely you don't mean I was the other boy…"

Harry nodded, "You could have been the Boy Who Lived, but you aren't because Voldemort chose me as his equal. Once he attacked me, you were safe from the prophecy."

Neville took several deep breaths, "…I'm glad it was you Harry…" he said softly.

Harry chuckled, "No doubt you do, after all the trouble I've gotten myself into…"

"I don't mean that," Neville insisted, looking at Harry, "I don't know if I could have handled all that attention without turning into some horrible snob or pompous bastard." He chuckled softly, "You had the entire world on your shoulders and you were still a better man than most could even imagine."

"You're giving me far too much credit." Harry started.

Neville shook his head, "No, I'm not. I've watched you from the sidelines for years Harry, and I've seen the way you've modestly handled you're fame, gracefully accept defeat and you've approached the most dangerous situations with a level of maturity that most adults never have." Neville smiled softly, "You've been like that since you were 11 Harry. Others may say you were immature for breaking rules, but I don't think I can remember a time when you didn't have some reason for stepping outside the thinking of a rulebook…"

Harry stared at Neville for a minute or so before continuing, "Neville, the reason I'm telling you about this prophecy now is because of the fact I wasn't born in this world."

The other man blinked, "And if you weren't born in this world…"

"That meant there was only one option for the prophecy." Harry finished.

"…So the me in this world is the Boy Who Lived?" Neville asked curiously.

Harry flinched, "He would have been…if he had lived." Harry didn't look at Neville as he continued, "For reasons I don't know, you were killed when you were a year old. The Frank and Alice Longbottom of this world have been mourning the loss of their son for 17 years…they haven't had their son anymore than you've had your parents."

Neville was looking up at the ceiling, "At least I got to have my parents; I was just visiting them this morning…." He whispered, "You deserve to have your parents more than I do…"

Harry smiled, "Neville, I've got my parents too. James and Lily are upstairs in the study with the others. It's been a bit awkward, but we're getting along fine. We haven't had a group hug or anything, but that's fine with all three of us..."

Harry watched as Neville covered his eyes with his hands, still looking up at the ceiling. Neville said nothing for the longest time, biting his lip as he took a shaky breath in. Harry could see a wet shimmer streak down the side of Neville's face as his friend sat in silence.

After a few minutes, Neville hurriedly wiped his eyes, trying to keep from sniffling as he spoke, "Promise you won't tell the others about this?"

Harry smiled, "Tell the others about what?"

Neville smiled, "Thanks Harry…you're a real friend."

"Thanks, you too Neville." Harry stood up before offering Neville his hand, "Now come on, I'm sure the Order is about ready to kill Draco for being a Malfoy."

* * *

Neville's mind was swimming with what Harry had just told him. He had been a mere decision away from being the one chosen to kill Voldemort, and for that reason, he had been killed as an infant here in this alternate reality.

To think the first words he would remember his mother saying were '_Frank's still missing too…_'. Then Neville realized that he had been the reason why his father had been missing. He had stunned his own father! Not to mention that, but Mad-Eye wouldn't be happy with him when he woke up…

Harry led him up a few flights of stairs to a study, "Dumbledore has everyone meet in here whenever there's something important or something." He said with a chuckle before opening the door.

The room was very full to say the least. Everyone who had been stunned had been revived, which now meant that Ron had a twin, and his father was standing beside his mother, neither of whom knew that Neville was their son…yet.

Ron and Hermione were standing in the center of the room, in front of the desk that Dumbledore was seated at. Malfoy looked like he had been forced to sit on the floor in between Ron and Hermione, and the blonde was clutching Teddy tightly.

It was odd behavior for Malfoy to be sure, at least to Neville. Then Neville remembered that the Order had only refrained from killing Malfoy was because he had Teddy.

'_Teddy's Malfoy's character witness…'_ Neville mused as he and Harry walked into the room.

Once the door to the study shut behind them, Neville watched as Dumbledore stood to address the group.

"It would appear," He began, looking at Neville and the rest of the Harry's friends, "That we have new guests." Neville could almost feel a ripple of awkward acceptance at Dumbledore's words: that the Order would accept them, but they wouldn't trust them. "Now Harry, you've placed your trust in these young people, I believe it is only fitting that you introduce them to us."

Harry chuckled, "Well to make a long story short: these guys are from my world, so I know I can trust them." He quickly went over to Ron and rested a hand on his shoulder, "The Ron Weasley in my world has been by my side since the beginning, and all the adventures I've told you all about, he's been there with me fighting and avoiding danger when possible."

Ron rolled his eyes, "If it was possible Harry, which it wasn't." he laughed.

Harry smiled, and Neville watched as he rested his free hand on Hermione's back, "And this is Ron's better half, Hermione Granger. There's nothing that she doesn't know or that she won't find out for the sake of a mystery or an adventure. I shudder to think what would have become of me without her guidance."

Hermione jabbed at Harry's ribs, ignoring his wincing from his burns, "You sound like you're speaking at my funeral Harry."

"Yeah, but at least he has nice things to say." Ron smiled at Hermione. Hermione blushed and Neville resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He wasn't sure what was better: the bickering or the flirting.

Harry shared a look with Neville and he could tell that Harry was thinking around the same thing as he walked over to Neville.

"I've had a lot of help in my world in the fight against Voldemort." Harry said with a smile, "In a lot of ways…"

Neville looked at Harry, and he could see what he was doing. Harry was trying to stall telling the Order who he was. He smiled, and nodded to Harry, urging him to continue.

Harry gave a small nod back to Neville, "I'm glad to say that Neville Longbottom is one of my closest friends."

There was a collective intake of breath from around the room, ranging from amazed breaths to stunned gasps, and quiet murmurs soon followed. Neville didn't trust himself to look over at where his parents were standing; he was too nervous and too uneasy at what their reactions would be. Instead he looked at Harry, trying to calm himself down, lest he start crying again.

This time it was Harry's turn to nod to Neville, "Go ahead Neville," he whispered, "Go ahead and look…"

With a deep breath, Neville turned his head to look at his parents.

His mother was already walking towards him, her steps slow and hesitant, while her husband stayed behind her, wary. Neville didn't blame them, to him he was getting his sane parents back, but to them, their son was coming back from the dead…but they had missed his childhood.

'_Well I guess now I have someone who will listen to me when I tell them stories.'_ Neville mused as Alice Longbottom stood in front of him.

She was shorter than him, but that was to be expected. "…Are you really Neville?" She asked quietly. "Are you really my son?"

Neville gave a small smile, trying to keep from biting his lip, "I was Neville when I woke up this morning…" He almost wanted to laugh at himself. After all these years of wanting to be able to really talk to his parents and the first thing he says to his mom was '_I was Neville when I woke up this morning'_? Well, it could have been worse; he could have accidently spewed about the time he passed out in second year from the Mandrakes…

He was cut off from his mental ramblings when he felt two arms wrap around his middle. Neville looked down at his mother, hugging him tightly and, judging from the wet spots forming on his jacket, having a tearful reunion. After a slow moment, Neville wrapped his arms around his mother and buried his face in her hair.

She didn't smell like the sterile environment of St. Mungo's, her hair wasn't cut short to keep her from hurting herself, she wasn't wearing a hospital gown and slippers, she wasn't handing him candy wrappers as her only display of affection…she wasn't insane…

She could talk, she could listen, her eye could focus, and for the first time Neville could remember, they were focused on him.

Neville was aware that the rest of the room was watching, but they could go tickle a sleeping dragon for all he cared, he had his parents back.

From where he stood watching, Harry smiled warmly.

* * *

_Alright, first you all should be grateful I didn't give you guys another cliffy. I felt bad because I won't be updating next weekend and I didn't want you in suspense that long._

_I am aware that I didn't get to Draco or Teddy's introduction, I did that on purpose. I felt that if I tried to do both, that Neville's reunion would be squashed by the 'Taipan' revelation. And I've always had a soft spot for Neville._

_Did you guys mind too terribly that I kinda more or less skipped Harry's explanation? Because honestly, the situations been explained several times already and I'm sure you're just as sick of reading it as I am of writing it lol._

_Now I don't have a question for this post, but since it's such a special post, I decided I'm going to have a small contest. It's a oneshot contest and the prize is a 10,000 word oneshot of the winners choice. Full contest details on my profile, hopefully this won't end up a complete bust and no one wants to do it lol._

_But either way, I love you guys and your reviews make me feel loved...and yes, they are my crack_

_Until next time_

_slavetothepen  
_


	13. Chapter 13

_I'm back everyone! Thank you all for being so patient (or not so, but I'll pretend that you were!) while I was visiting my friend. In case you were wondering, I did have oodles of fun and I got her addicted to _Biggest Loser _and we carved pumpkins (I made a Harry Potter/ Voldemort pumpkin!). _

_Enough about my week hiatus, I thought I'd ask the forum how well they are understanding everything so far. The snake names aren't too confusing are they? What about the _Fidelius _charm on the Order/rebels? I ask because I hate when fanfiction writers bring in a new concept and just run away with it, leaving their readers with headaches. If you would like me to explain more in later chapters, let me know! I bend to your will (to an extent lol)_

_And enough of me whining, here's chapter 13 of _Savior's Calling (wee, Lucky 13!)_  
_

* * *

Draco was more than aware that the embrace between Longbottom and the other woman than he or Weasley or even Granger knew. He vaguely wondered if these bizarre, dangerous or terrifying situations were a normal part of being an acquaintance of Harry's or if this was just Draco's odd punishment, being thrown into some bizarre prank.

Behind him, Weasley shifted, causing Draco and Granger to look at the redhead.

"What?" Granger whispered, trying not to be too obvious to the surrounding wizards who were so focused on Longbottom and the other two.

Weasley shook his head, "It's nothing…" he muttered, trying to reassure his girlfriend, at least Draco assumed she was his girlfriend…

Draco saw Harry make his way towards the three (well four counting Teddy). Draco had to strain his ears as Harry leaned close to his two confidants, "The Neville Longbottom in this world was killed as a child." He whispered.

This information didn't make a whole lot of sense to Draco, but Weasley and Granger obviously understood, as Weasley nodded in understanding.

"Makes sense…both sides are seeing loved ones come back to life…" Weasley muttered, "Or sanity…"

By now, Draco assumed that the man and woman Longbottom was embracing were his parents or something to that affect.

From behind him, Granger sighed, "Poor Neville," she whispered, "I'm glad he has his parents again."

'_So they were his parents…'_ Draco noted as Weasley looked down at him. He could clearly see the cheeky grin on the redhead's face, _'Probably laughing to himself at the fact I'm sitting at his feet'_ he thought, turning his attention back to his little cousin. Teddy was quite an attractive infant if he said so himself.

'_He gets it from the Black side of his family_' he noted with pride. Of course, the fact that Teddy was still wearing the trademark flaxen hair of the Malfoys didn't hurt Draco's impression of the baby. Yes, Draco decided that he and Teddy would get along just nicely…._'And if Teddy and I are close, then it's only a matter of time before-'_

The Longbottoms broke their embrace, pulling Draco from his train of thought as Longbottom returned to his spot beside Weasley and the other two returned to their spot in the circle surrounding them.

"It seems that your world has yet to cease in its ability to amaze us, Harry," Said the calm voice of Dumbledore as the old man leaned back comfortably in his chair, "Your presence alone has made parents out of Lily and James and then you have returned Frank and Alice's son from the dead." Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the old man's adoring gaze on Harry as he continued, "Yet I'm sure there is one guest that we are all eager to meet. I suggest you introduce us all before some of use get too blood thirsty."

'_Guest? Is that what they call it then?'_ Draco mused as Harry sighed. He was eager to hear what Harry had to say about him.

"Well…" Harry started, pausing to gather his thoughts, "Everyone seems to recognize Draco Malfoy-"

A man that reminded Draco of Cedric Diggory interrupted Harry, "We know who this bastard is!" he shouted, pointing his wand at Draco.

Harry quickly stepped in the way of the wand, making Draco fight the urge to smile again. "So help me Cedric, if you try and curse him while he's holding my godson _again_, so help me, you'll wish you had taken your chances with the Dementors." There was a dark tone in Harry's voice that made him sound all too serious.

'_Oh…_' Draco's shoulders sagged slightly. Well it was expected that Harry would be protective of his godson, after all who wouldn't be? Teddy was just the most beautiful child in the world, who would want to hurt him?

Teddy was contently clapping his hands together, completely unaware of the danger. _'I swear, he's growing on me…' _ Draco thought to himself as Harry continued.

"Look," Harry said, trying his best to act as a human shield between Draco, Teddy and the rest of the people in the room. "I know the Malfoy's aren't exactly model citizens, but just because they're Slytherins doesn't-"

A red haired woman that Draco didn't recognize shook her head, "It's not about Hogwarts houses Harry, the school hasn't been open in years."

'_No Hogwarts?'_ Draco thought, _'The war here must be worse than anything our world had…'_

Harry nodded to the woman slowly, "Well just because the Malfoys are Deatheaters in this world doesn't mean-"

"Harry don't you get it?" A mousy haired woman shouted. Draco noted by the way her hair flared red that she was probably his cousin Nymphadora…Teddy's mother…. "This is Draco Malfoy, son of the King Cobra, the venomous Taipan!"

That declaration made no sense to Draco, and apparently Granger, Weasley and Longbottom were just as confused. "King Cobra?" Granger asked, "Harry, what is Tonks talking about?"

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, "In this world, the Deatheaters have snake-themed aliases…bloody annoying…"

"So Malfoy's a Deatheater?" Weasley asked bluntly. Draco rolled his eyes. Being a Deatheater in this world was the furthest thing on his agenda, "What does that have to do with-"

"Deatheater?" Casper, no Charlie Weasley asked incredulously, "The Taipan is no mere Deatheater!"

A dark haired man with an eye patch nodded, "The Taipan is the Serpant King's heir, the Prince of Death, the Lord of Agony, the-"

The red haired woman interrupted the man beside her, "The Taipan is the Serpent Prince, Harry."

'_I'm the _**what**_?'_

* * *

"It is so nice to see you are well, dear Aunt Bella." The Taipan cooed as his aunt stormed into the otherwise empty throne room early that morning, "It would have been such a shame for you to die at the hands of a rebel weapon."

"Shut your mouth," Bellatrix snapped, storming to where the Taipan was lounging on the King's empty throne, "Where is his Majesty?" she asked harshly, in a fouler mood than normal.

The Taipan yawned dramatically, stretching leisurely on his perch on the right arm of the majestic throne, "His Majesty is in her personal chambers…" he smirked at his aunt, "And we both know I'm the only one who is allowed in there."

"You ungrateful brat!" The wild haired witch sneered, gripping her wand tightly against her side, "You are not worthy to even lick our King's shoes, let alone sit at his right hand!"

"Apparently, dear Aunt, the King thinks otherwise," The blonde smirked, stretching his arm over the top of the throne, taunting her, "Does it anger you, Aunt Bella, that your youngest sister's son has by far surpassed you and gained the favor of our King that you only dream of in your most perverse dreams? Are you filled with rage at the thought that while I am seated at his right hand, you are at his useless left hand? Does it enrage you that while you take orders like the bitch you are, while the King sees me as his precious blood and I drink from his wine cup while you lap at his feet for any scraps of his affection?" The prince's twisted laughter rang throughout the empty room, enjoying the anger he felt from his aunt. After a few minutes, his laughter died down and his calm expression slid back onto his face as he looked at Bellatrix, "…Well does it?"

The rage on the Black Mamba's face was more than obvious, and no doubt she wanted to curse him within an inch of his life, if not further. But the Taipan knew she wouldn't, she couldn't, not without being punished with death herself.

Reveling in the rage of his aunt, the Taipan smirked, "Since you are my mother's dear sister, I suppose I should give you the opportunity to gain my favor." He slowly extended his leg, pointing his foot at the Black Mamba, "The best place to start would be to kiss my boots."

"You insolent bastard!" Bellatrix screeched, pointing her wand at the Taipan, "My loyalty is to his Majesty, not _you!_"

Before the Taipan could say anything more, the doors to the throne room opened and the Serpent King and the Deatheaters soon entered the room. Bellatrix quickly stowed her wand away before anyone saw her threatening to attack the Prince.

The King took his seat on the throne, with Lucius standing behind the Taipan and Bellatrix kneeling at his left hand. With a swirl of his wine glass, the King looked up at his followers.

"As you all are aware, the rebels broke into the Adder's Lair some time ago." He said calmly, "Those who allowed the rebel intruder to escape have already been punished-"

'_Or killed…'_ The Taipan mused sadistically.

"-But the intruder was able to steal a tome of very powerful magic." The King continued, "It has come to my attention that the rebels have used this magic to create a being to serve as their weapon. This being was forged from the blood sacrifice of one of their own, very dark for the tastes of the muggle loving rebels."

There was a pause as a ripple of dark laughter and sneers ran through the throne room, each Deatheater reveling in the irony of the rebel's use of dark magic. Even the King was smirking as he summoned the image of the handsome weapon from the Pensive, "This is the unprotected image of said being."

The Taipan was slightly annoyed at the jeers and the lusty gazes the Deatheaters were giving the man in the Pensive. How dare they look on _his_ prize with such filthy looks… the man with _Aveda_ green eyes would belong to the Taipan, and the Taipan alone.

The King also noted the hungry looks of the Deatheaters, "Do not let his pretty exterior fool you all," He warned them, although if the warning was for their own good or to tell them to back off, the Taipan couldn't discern, "he has already shown great prowess in the greater, darker arts as well as the white magic those rebels hold so dear."

The entire room watched as the memory played itself out, first observing the powerful Patronus that destroyed the King's Dementors, then the arousing display of rage and dark magic. The Taipan resisted the urge to shiver in delight as he heard the dark curse _Sectumsempra_ echo from the memory.

"This being does not need a wand to be dangerous." The King said evenly, "We suspect that the rebels have perhaps created more like this one, but for now he is our greatest threat." At the word threat, all the Deatheaters were silent, staring intently at their king, "From this point onward, this nameless man shall be moved to the top of our fugitive list. The rebels may try to hide his appearance, but he has scars from dark magic on his forehead on both his hands. Should any of you encounter him, capture him _alive!_" The Taipan was pleased to hear that the King was taking his request seriously, "If we can control this weapon, the rebels will stand no chance."

There was a roar of agreement amongst the Deatheathers, eager to rally around their king and each desiring to be the one who capture the rebel soldier and gain favor with the King.

'_Speaking of favor…'_ The Taipan looked at his aunt, who was scowling at the image of the pretty rebel man. It was refreshing to see her lose some of her pride… _'And that's not all she lost…'_

"Aunt Bella," He commented innocently, but loud enough to be heard, "Whatever happened to your locket?"

The question brought both the Black Mamba and the Serpent King' attention as the King whipped his head to look at Bellatrix. "Where is the locket I gave you?" He asked coldly.

Bellatrix grasped her throat, looking for the locket she always wore, only to find her neck bare. Her eyes widened at the revelation.

"Where is the locket I trusted to you as a token to your loyalty?" The King roared in anger.

The Taipan smirked, adding fuel to the fire, "It must have come off during her battle with the rebels…" he added oh so innocently.

The King's red eyes burned with a fiery hatred as he pulled out his wand, _"Crucio!"_

The screams of the Black Mamba were by far louder than the Deatheaters previous cheering and as the woman bended and broke in ways no human should have possibly been able to achieve, the Taipan smiled to himself.

When the King finally lifted the curse, he looked to the other Deatheaters, "Leave!" he commanded, threatening to curse anyone who dared disobey him.

It wasn't long before only the King Cobra, the Taipan and the Black Mamba remained with the King. Bellatrix was trying to catch her breath from the effects of the curse.

The King gripped his wineglass tightly, "You let the rebels take the locket I gave you, you fool…" He sneered, tempted to curse her again.

The Taipan looked at the memory that was playing, watching in fascination, "If I may interrupt, my king." He said calmly, "But if that memory is correct, than the rebels abandoned Hogsmeade almost immediately. If my foolish aunt did lose your precious token during the fight, it could still be in Hogsmeade." He offered, gently resting a hand on the King's head.

The King looked at the Prince, eyes raging in anger. The Taipan held his ground, not quaking in fear at the angered gaze, instead he let his hand move gently from the King's head down his neck and rest on his shoulder.

After a few minutes, the King turned to Bellatrix, "Get out of my sight." He snarled, "Don't come back until you have the locket."

The shaking witch got to her feet, "Yes, my king…" she gasped, glaring at the Taipan.

The blonde just smirked, mouthing the words '_kiss my boots'_. Seeing this, the Black Mamba stormed from the throne room.

'_What a fool'_ The Prince thought, _'if your loyalty is to the King, then your loyalty is to me.'_

* * *

Ron couldn't help it. He really couldn't. Before he could stop himself, laughter burst from his mouth at the announcement that Draco Malfoy was the Dark Prince or something or other…

"Ron!" Hermione scolded, "This is no time to be laughing!"

"This is a perfect time to be laughing!" Ron grinned, "I mean, Draco Malfoy a prince? Malfoy, the same git who wore his hair slicked back like a helmet our first year at Hogwarts? Malfoy, the same guy we had to save from _Fiendfyre_?"

Neville gave a small chuckle, "Who acted like he was about to die when he was scratched by a hippogriff?"

Ron was having trouble breathing at the thought of Malfoy as a prince, "Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret!" He had to grip his sides he was laughing so hard. And by the way that Hermione was covering her mouth and looking away from everyone, she was having trouble keeping from laughing as well.

Harry chuckled, "I completely forgot about that…"

Malfoy scowled, "I'm so glad I can be a source of entertainment for you Gryffindors…" he muttered.

The Order seemed confused to say the least about their sudden amusement with Malfoy's apparent status of royalty.

"I fail to see how this is funny." Bill growled, gripping his wand tightly.

Harry stepped in front of Bill to keep him from trying to fire on Malfoy and Teddy, "Sorry Bill, it's just that our Draco must be a lot different than your…er…Taipan?" He looked around the room, "I mean, my Ron and your Ron are different, aren't they?"

"I should hope so…" Ron muttered, looking over at his twin, who was standing between his parents and Fred and George. His other self looked so much more tired and ragged…well then again, at least Ron had been able to live a war free life for almost 15 years.

"I still don't trust him." Charlie muttered, eyeing Malfoy warily.

"I can't believe I'm saying this…but there's no reason to hate or fear Malfoy." Ron sighed, "I'll admit he's not my favorite person in the world, but he's just annoying, not evil." He couldn't believe that he was defending a Malfoy…then again, perhaps Harry was rubbing off on him…damnit all…

"Thanks for the vote of confidence…" Malfoy pouted, turning his attention back to Teddy.

Harry chuckled, "Dumbledore, you trust me don't you? Or at least my judgment?"

Ron watched at Dumbledore steepled his fingers, pondering Harry's questions. His eyes were twinkling with amusement at the situation. "You certainly enjoy having us rethink our view of this war, Harry…as of yet, your friends have given us no reason to distrust them anymore than we have given them a reason to distrust us…"

"So you aren't going to try and kill us?" Malfoy muttered, "And by 'us' I mean me."

It was Moody that answered Malfoy, "If Dumbledore says to hold our fire, we will. But put one toe out of line, and it'll take more than a baby to save you."

Harry frowned, "You hurt Teddy, any of you, and you'll regret it immensely."

"Teddy?" A red haired woman that Ron vaguely recognized stepped forward, "Is that your godson's name?"

As quickly as Harry's dark mood had settled, Harry brightened, "Yeah…Teddy's my godson…" He smiled and walked over to Malfoy, extending his arms to take Teddy from the blonde. With some reluctance, Malfoy handed the infant to Harry, who held Teddy warmly.

"Good thing he's just your godson," Sirius chuckled, "Poor James here might have had a heart attack if he found out he was a grandfather." He clapped a hand onto the one eyed man's shoulder.

'_That's Harry's father?'_ Ron thought to himself, and even Hermione and Neville blinked in surprise, _'Well…this is one hell of a war…'_

Harry didn't seem fazed by his father's appearance, but then again Harry _had_ been then longer than the rest of them, "Don't worry, Teddy isn't my son. I only watch him every other week."

The red haired woman smiled, "Is he one of your friend's children?"

Ron blanched as he looked at Hermione, who looked just as horrified at the suggestion. "He's not ours!" he blurted, then blushed at his sudden outburst.

Harry chuckled, "Erm, no…he's actually…he's actually…er…"

Ron didn't blame Harry for feeling awkward. He would too if he had to tell Lupin that he was suddenly a father…

"He's Lupins." Malfoy said bluntly, not really caring who felt awkward.

The entire Order look dumbfounded, and Lupin, poor Lupin looked like he was he had just heard that Hagrid had eloped with the Giant Squid.

"Me?" He asked, looking stunned to say the least.

Harry nodded, "Yeah…"

Lupin shook his head, "But…but why is he here? Why isn't he with me- I mean the other me?"

Again, Malfoy decided to answer, "The other you didn't exactly make it through the final battle."

"Malfoy!" Ron groaned, "Do you have to be such a prat about it?"

Malfoy scoffed, "You lot had sure didn't tip toe around my other self's identity, why should we treat them with kid gloves?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Boys…either way, Andromeda had to visit a friend and tried to drop Teddy off at your place. That's how we know you went missing, because Ron and I were the first people she contacted, leaving us with Teddy."

Tonks blinked, "What does my mother have to do with Remus' son?"

Before Malfoy could interrupt with yet another blunt revelation, Teddy hiccupped, turning his light blonde hair to Harry's thick black hair, before hiccupping again and turning his hair his normal turquoise.

Ron groaned. There was just no being subtle with these people, he realized.

Of course, there were several reactions he expected from Tonks; from joking about having a miniature male self to denying what she had seen.

But he certainly didn't expect her to faint.

* * *

_I'm sorry! I'm sorry this chapter is so short, especially compared to my past few chapters! That was literally all I had to say in this chapter! But hey, who likes baby Teddy [holds up Teddy] look how cute he is!_

_Moving on, I should have expected this, but so far I have received 0 entries for my contest (which, again, doesn't surprise me). So chances are I'll keep it open until I get some lol._

_Alright, question time: What do you think of the Taipan? I know it sounds vain, but I think I made him into a kinda creepy villian, but hey, he's my baby. But tell me what you think! Is he creepy? evil? just randomly flamboyantly gay? You're still convinced that Voldie's banging him in the throne room?_

_Well you all know the drill, you love my chapters (especially you, Strangeou. I honestly thought you were sick for a split second), I love your cracky-goodness of reviews._

_So until next time!_

_slavetothepen  
_


	14. Chapter 14

_I'm back everyone! I've got great news! Chapter 13 received not only the same number as my record (77 in one week) but also pushed this story over the 600 review mark! Thank you all so much!_

_Before I get started with the chapter, I did get a review saying that the past few chapters have been more or less the same thing and could have been combined into one chapter. My response to this? I completely agree. The only reason I've been dragging out the 'Oh my goodness, we're from two worlds!' drama is because I'm stalling to find the best way to transition into Horcrux hunt mode. I hope you all don't mind._

_And I got a lot of questions asking about where Ginny was in this story. I thought Harry/Draco fans were supposed to hate Ginny or something, so I didn't feel she was important enough to waste time on that. But for those of you need to know, anyone who isn't of age in Darkverse goes overseas (I'll let you pick which way overseas, just as long as they are far away) to train until they can join the Order and fight. That also explains why there is no Luna. Is this a cop out? Yes, but I have enough characters to keep tract of in this story as it is lol._

_Well that housekeeping is done, onto the chapter!  
_

* * *

Harry had never pictured Tonks to be much of a fainter, yet there she was, sprawled out on the floor, trying to recover from discovering that that her other self had a son with Lupin.

"Merlin Nymphadora, you gave us quite a scare," Molly scolded her as Tonks sat up.

Sirius on the other hand couldn't stop laughing, "James and Lily found out they were the parents of the savior and didn't bat an eye, but here you are on the floor because you found out you got knocked up!"

Lupin pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm sure my other self wouldn't 'knock her up' Sirius…right Harry?"

Harry chuckled, playing with Teddy's hair, "You two were married, yes."

"See Sirius?" Lupin sighed, helping Tonks to her feet.

Sirius only laughed harder, "You two get married! And get busy!"

Tonks blushed as she got steady on her feet, "It's not funny Sirius…"

Harry rolled his eyes, looking down at Teddy. The infant was bouncing gup ad down happily in Harry's arms, oblivious to the chaos around him. This made Harry smile, glad to have a ray of innocence in the war.

From the corner of his eye, Harry could see the Hogsmeade members talking amongst themselves in the corner of the study. Dean and Seamus glanced around the room while Angelina exchanged quiet, but heated words with Cedric. Harry could see Olivers lips move as he added to the silent discussion, while Cho stayed glued to Cedric's side. It was apparent that Cedric was more or less the leader of the small branch of the Order, even though he wasn't the oldest.

'_Well age doesn't mean much in war…'_ Harry thought, _'I have to save the world _again_ and I may be the youngest one here…after Teddy of course…'_

Cedric approached Dumbledore's desk, the others watching him from their huddle.

"You seem worried, Mr. Diggory." Dumbledore said calmly, leaning forward on his desk, "What seems to be bothering you?"

"Sir we, the other Hogsmeade members and I, have spent too much time away from Hogsmeade." Cedric replied evenly, "The others and I believe it would be best if we returned as soon as possible."

After a moment, Dumbledore nodded slowly, "If that is how you feel-"

"It is."

"-then perhaps you should return. The people of Hogsmeade need your protection and you certainly can't give them that while you are here." The old man's eyes twinkled slightly as he spoke.

Cedric nodded, "We are prepared to leave immediately by Floo if you would allow us to use it."

Again Dumbldore nodded, "Yes, of course." He stood slowly before going over to the fireplace, "I am glad that we have been able to see you all again, but hopefully our next meeting will be under more peaceful circumstances."

Harry could see Cedric give a small scoff, "I doubt it sir, but I do appreciate your high hopes. It is refreshing to hear."

The Hogsmeade members stood around the fireplace as Dumbledore pulled a pouch of Floo powder from his robe. "Hope is what we all must strive for if we are to survive this war."

Cedric nodded before waving Oliver forward to go through the fireplace. The Scotsman took a handful of Floo powder from Dumbledore while his other hand gripped his wand tightly.

"Hogshead Pub!" Oliver said evenly, before vanishing in a flash of green flame.

Cedric stood by Cho after Oliver vanished. They actually stood in silence for several minutes, just staring at the empty fireplace.

Harry looked at them curiously, "What are you waiting for?" he asked curiously, holding Teddy in one arm.

Cedric looked evenly at Harry, "Oliver is checking to make sure the coast is clear. That way we don't blindly floo into an ambush or trap."

Harry nodded, "That makes sense…I didn't think of that…"

"Someday you'll have to explain to me how you managed to win your own war." Cedric smirked as the fireplace roared to life again. In the green flames, Oliver's hand extended forward and gestured for the others to follow before the flames vanished once more.

With a nod from Cedric, Seamus and Angelina made their way to the fireplace. After they Flooed back to Hogsmeade, Dean and Cho went after them. Harry noted that all the women were paired with men as they made their way out of the study, and they all kept steady grips on their wands, in case they needed them.

Cedric was last to go, making sure that no one in his care was left behind. As he stood with the Floo powder in his hand, Harry remembered something.

"Cedric wait," Harry grabbed Cedric's hand, "There's something I need you to do…"

* * *

'_I'll kill that blasted brat…spoiled little wretch…'_ Bellatrix fumed as she stormed down the alleyways of Hogsmeade. The town appeared to be all but deserted of people, but of course all the people could have very well been in hiding from the dreaded Black Mamba.

As well they should be hiding in fear; there were few things more dangerous than an enraged, venomous serpent. The rage was all but radiating off of Bellatrix as she stood in the very same spot that, not even a few night ago, had resulted in her humiliating defeat.

_Does it enrage you that while you take orders like the bitch you are?_

Bellatrix grit her teeth at the thought of that smug little blonde, "Blasted child … damned rebels … I'll kill that that weapon with my bare hands if I get the chance…"

But in the back of her mind, Bellatrix was devastated to have lost her king's precious locket. Of course, she covered that emotion with rage towards the rebels and to the bastard Prince.

'_He doesn't deserve the King's favor, that blonde bitch.' _ She thought darkly, _'Narcissa's brat acting like he's the King's royal whore, throwing himself at his Majesty for all attention. And he dares call me the bi-'_

Her rant was cut short when she spotted a shimmer in the dirt beside where she and the rebel weapon had their bloody duel. The dirt was still stained black with her blood that the weapon had spilled. And there in the middle of the dried pool of blood was the King's treasured locket.

"There you are, you blood piece of trouble…" She murmured, flicking her wand to summon the trinket to her. Once the locket was in her hand, she smirked to herself and put the locket around her neck.

"Let's see the look on that Prince Whore's face now." She said smugly to herself before _Apparating _back to Castle Slytherin.

* * *

Cedric watched from the attic window of the Hogshead pub, intrigued to say the least. When Harry had asked him to do something for him, Cedric had been curious, but had let Harry explain his request.

"_When you get back, you need to find something…anything really, but you need to make it look like this locket." _Harry had said as he held up the Black Mamba's locket. _"They're going to look for it, so they need to think that the locket isn't missing."_

Cedric realized that Harry had been right, but he certainly hadn't expected the Black Mamba herself to come back and dig the transfigured stone from the bloody dirt and put the pseudo-locket around her own neck.

"Well, maybe I'm not giving Harry the credit he deserves…" He murmured as the Black Mamba _Aparated _away from Hogsmeade.

From behind him, Cedric could hear Seamus and Dean sit down on the beds that the Hogsmeade Order slept in, "What do you think of Harry then? Seems like an odd bloke to me." Seamus commented, laying back on the bed.

Beside him, Dean shrugged, "Dumbledore seems to trust him, and that's enough for me."

Angelina wrapped her coat tightly around her, "Regardless, it was nice to see the others again." She murmured.

"You mean it was nice to George again." Seamus smirked at Angelina, who threw a pillow at Seamus.

"Oi, knock it off, you t'o" Oliver rolled his eyes at Seamus.

Dean in turn smirked at Oliver, "Oh don't pretend you didn't have someone special to see."

While the rest of the gang bickered lightheartedly, Cedric chuckled slightly, turning back to the window. It was uplifting to hear such innocent sounding conversations despite their dark circumstances.

"We're going to be alright, aren't we?" Cho asked quietly, holding onto Cedric's arm.

Cedric looked back at Cho, remembering what else Harry had told him.

"_Marry Cho,"_ The messy haired boy had told him. It had actually caught Cedric off guard that Harry had figured out his relationship with Cho, "_Life's too short to hold back. And I know Cho loves you as much as you love her."_

Cedric looked down at Cho and wrapped his arms around the small Chinese woman.

"We'll be just fine, Cho." He carefully kissed her forehead, hoping that Harry was right.

* * *

"Alright, are we done with introductions and interruptions?" Harry muttered, slightly annoyed. It seemed he had spent more time explaining things and repeating himself more than any actual progress with defeating Voldemort.

Dumbledore nodded, "You sound eager to continue your current quest to find the Serpent King's Horcruxes."

"Of course I am…" Harry pinched the bridge of his nose with his free arm.

Ron groaned, "Not the Horcruxes again…"

Even Hermione sighed, "It's like we have to start all over again…"

"Even worse because last time we already had two destroyed when we started our year long cross country adventure." Ron moaned, putting his hands on his forehead in frustration.

Harry sighed, "Yes, well at least we have two Horcruxes here like last time."

Neville and Hermione blinked, "You do? You haven't been here that long" Hermione commented, "How have-"

"Well the diary more or less fell in our laps on accident," Harry explained, going over to the desk and picking up the diary, "And shortly before you all got here, I managed to snatch the locket off of Bellatrix's neck." He held up the locket, "Which explains my horrible burns here…she didn't exactly give me the locket."

"I hate that locket…." Ron gave a shudder before crossing his arms, "Bellatrix had the necklace? That doesn't make any sense…we had to pry that thing off of Umbridge's pudgy little neck…"

Before his father could open his mouth to ask what Ron meant, Harry held up a hand, "It's a long story and I really don't have the time or the patience to tell that particular story again…damnit when this is done, I'm writing a book so I won't have to keep telling people the same thing over and over." Harry muttered, "But not only have we already gotten two of Voldemort's Horcruxes, we already know where the third one is."

Hermione looked intrigued to say the least, "You have?" She asked.

Lily was quick to reply, "Harry spotted it while we were looking through our archives," The red haired woman quickly made her way to the pile of papers and brought the issue of _The Daily Prophet_ for Hermione to look at, "You see? It's-"

"Hufflepuff's cup, yes I'm quite aware of what this is." Hermione looked at the paper, "I did destroy it after all…"

The Order looked at Harry questioning, then back to Hermione, "You destroyed a Horcrux?" Lupin asked, slightly astonished.

"Of course I did. I could hardly run around with Harry and not perform some sort of reckless and heroic act." Hermione looked up, "What? Did you think that Harry managed to destroy them all on his own?"

The murmurs around the Order told Harry that, to his embarrassment, they had believed that Harry had managed to destroy all the Horcruxes on his own. Ron and Hermione chuckled in amusement, while Neville and Draco just looked somewhat lost.

"Well I don't know how much Harry _has_ told you, but of the seven Horcruxes, I destroyed Hufflepuff's cup." Hermione started.

Ron shuddered, "I had to destroy the locket…hardest thing in my life, that's for sure…" He muttered, trying not to relive old memories.

Neville smiled, "I actually killed the snake, Nagini."

Hermione counted off on her fingers the number of Horcruxes, "Dumbledore destroyed the ring and Ravenclaw's diadem was destroyed in _Fiendfyre_…"

Harry chuckled, "I destroyed the diary back when we were twelve and I guess Voldemort destroyed the one in me by himself."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "So you only destroyed one Horcrux Harry?"

With a sheepish chuckle, Harry rubbed the back of his neck, "I told you all that I couldn't have defeated Voldemort without my friends…" He muttered.

Before anyone else could comment on the Horcruxes and Harry, Dumbledore stood, "Perhaps we should focus less on the past and focus on collecting the Serpent King's current Horcruxes." He said evenly.

Harry graciously nodded, "Well Ron and Hermione already listed off the various Horcruxes…"

Ron smiled, "And now we just need to find them all." He said calmly.

It was then Harry sighed rubbing his forehead, "But that's where I'm having trouble. I honestly have no idea where they would be. None of the Horcruxes have been where they were in our world…"

Hermione rested a hand on Harry's shoulder, "I think I've got a good reason." She took a piece of chalk out of her pocket and started to write on the floor slowly.

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Why do you have chalk in your pocket, Hermione?"

Without looking up, Hermione replied, "Why don't you ask Malfoy, I'm sure he could tell you why."

After a few minutes, Harry tilted his head so that he could read the writing on the floor. There was shuffling on the floor from the Order members, each person trying to get so that they could get a good look at what Hermione had written.

_Diary_

_Locket-Bellatrix_

_Cup- Winecup_

_Ring_

_Diadem_

_Nagini_

_?_

Harry looked at Hermione, "What is this?" He asked, curious.

Hermione ignored Harry, instead looking up at the Order, "Where was the diary when you found it?" She asked instead.

Tonks cleared her throat, having calmed down at finding she was a mother, "It was in the King's personal library in Castle Slytherin…er, Hogwarts."

With a nod, Hermione added the information to her diagram.

_Diary- Hogwarts_

_Locket-Bellatrix_

_Cup- Winecup_

_Ring_

_Diadem_

_Nagini_

_?_

"Are you going to tell me was this means now, Hermione?" Ron asked, taking the words out of Harry and everyone else's mouth.

Hermione nodded again, "Well if Voldemort is thinking logically, which I don't doubt he is, he's keeping his Horcruxes close to himself."

Ron shook his head, "That doesn't make sense, I mean ol' Snakeface had us running all over the country, breaking into Gringotts and whatnot trying to find this little trinkets. Why change strategy now?"

Harry looked at the written list, "Because he thinks he's won already…" he said evenly, "Before, Voldemort kept his Horcruxes hidden away because there was still the off chance that he could be defeated and if he did, he didn't want anyone getting their hands on his soul and destroying it. But now that he's won-"

"Now that he's won, he's keeping his most prized possessions, his soul, as close as he possibly can." Hermione added, "Now he's trying to prevent anyone from doing exactly what we're trying to do: go around and destroy his Horcruxes one by one. Look here: the diary was in the Hogwarts library, surrounded by other books but still close enough to be found if needed. The locket was on Bellatrix's neck, and we all know how clingy she is to Voldemort."

"And the Serpent King doesn't ever put his wine glass down." Lily added, "So the rest of the Horcruxes are in Castle Slytherin or closer to the King!"

Hermione nodded, looking at Lily, "You look familiar, have we met?"

Lily shook her head, "Harry said my other self died when he was one, sacrificing my life for him."

There was a twitch in Hermione's eye, but she held her surprise well, "Your statue doesn't do you justice." She grumbled before moving on, "Now assuming that Nagini still shadows Voldemort everywhere he goes-"

"It does," Moody grunted, sneering at the thought of the snake.

"-then we can safely say that we only need to find the ring, the diadem and…" Here, Hermione trailed off. After a few minutes of silence, she shook her head, "I'm sorry Harry, but the seventh Horcrux could be anything…"

"It's alright Hermione; you've been great once again." Harry smiled softly.

Lily nodded, deciding to take over Hermione's spot in the think tank, "Right now we should focus on getting our hands on that cup first and foremost. Our best bet would be to strike when there are the most people around-"

"Lily, that is a horrible idea!" Arthur interjected, "If the Serpent King is surrounded by bodyguards and Deatheaters, we'd be killed before we fought our way to the cup!"

"I never said anything about us fighting or about him being surrounded by Deatheaters, did I?" The green-eyed woman gave a shrewd look to the Order.

There was a pause in the room before Frank Longbottom spoke up, "Surely you don't mean to strike during the slave auctions?"

The word 'slave' rang an alarm in Harry's mind, "Slave auctions? What is he talking about?"

James took over explaining, "Ever since the Serpent King took the throne, muggleborns have been held to the level of slaves to serve purebloods. The auctions happen quite often and the Serpent King always attends them all, sitting in a private box with the Taipan and occasionally the King Cobra and the Black Mamba."

"But that's the most he has for bodyguards usually," Lilly continued, "Other than those running the auction, the rest of the crowd will be uptight purebloods and slaves…we don't need a full scale attack, we need enough of a disturbance to cause panic and chaos…if we're lucky, we can snatch the cup while the few Deatheaters are containing the mayhem."

Harry nodded as his mother spoke before speaking his thoughts, "We need to give Voldemort a fake cup, or he'll be onto us. The last thing we need is an angry Voldemort after us."

"It's a little late for that, don't you think Harry?" Sirius smirked, "We're all on his majesty's _'Most Treasonous Villians' _list."

"'_Most Treasonous Villians'_?" Ron chuckled, "Not as catchy as '_Undesirable No. 1'_ now is it Harry?"

Harry smirked, "But it still basically means that everyone wants us dead."

* * *

All was quiet in the Order headquarters as night fell. Everyone managed to find places to sleep, even if it was a little cozy in some rooms. But most importantly everyone could rest after so many events that had happened to them.

But as the slim sliver of the moon shone through the windows of the building, there was one who could not sleep easy that night. As Draco walked the cold hallways, his thoughts wandered from everything that had happened to him in the past few hours of his life.

He had guessed that Harry had been off having an adventure, but it hadn't even crossed Draco's mind that there could have been danger involved, or that Harry would have managed to get himself involved in _another_ war.

'_Just like Harry…always has to save the day…' _ Draco mused as he found himself once more in the study that he had been forced to sit on the floor. It seemed so massive without all of the people crowded in, staring at him like he was on trial, _'No…my trial had many, many more people present…'_ he thought darkly.

The room was lit by one window allowing the moon to shine through, casting a pale white light onto the floor and desk of the study. Before he could stop himself, Draco found himself walking across the room and standing in front of the desk.

There was a worn leather bound book on the desk, a diary Harry had said, and an innocent looking necklace. Draco hadn't understood exactly what Harry and the others had been talking about and he hadn't dare annoy any of the Weasleys with his constant questions, but he was able to catch the word 'soul' a few times and he had best figured that the word 'Horcrux' was related to these items.

Curious, Draco picked up the delicate looking locket in his hands, turning it over in his fingers. It was a nice necklace to be sure, most likely very expensive and very old but Draco wasn't sure how old it was.

"So this is a Horcrux…" He whispered, admiring the elegant 'S' on the front, "But what do you do? What does a Horcrux do?"

An owl flew by the window, startling Draco and making him clutch the locket tightly in his hand. He shouldn't be in there, someone would find him and they wouldn't be happy.

'_They would be furious with me.' _Draco's mind raced, _'They all just want a reason not to trust me, just because I'm a Slytherin…'_ His heart was still racing and showed no signs of slowing down, _'No, they want to hate me, they want to hurt me, they want to kill me…'_

Panic set in Draco's heart. He didn't want to die; he had only wanted to find Harry. Now everyone would want to kill him for being different.

"_**Don't let them kill you.**__"_ A voice said in the back of his mind. Draco thought weakly of how he could possibly keep himself alive while he clutched the locket to his chest.

"_**Kill them first.**__" _The voice said darkly. Draco's blood ran cold. He couldn't possibly kill anyone, even if he wanted to. He just wasn't the type...

"_**They'll destroy you if you give them the chance.**_"

"Draco?" Draco nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice, outside his own mind this time, and spun to find Harry standing in the moonlight, staring at him and the locket.

He could see the shock in Harry's face, but Draco didn't understand why nor did he particularly care. He knew that Harry wouldn't be happy with him for touching the locket. Harry would be furious, Harry would _kill _him.

"_**Kill him.**_" The voice told him, and Draco could feel his wand hand raising to the level of Harry's chest. "_**You know the words…**_"

"Draco, listen to me!" Harry called, holding his hands up in surrender, "you don't want to hurt me Draco…this isn't you…"

Draco realized he didn't want to hurt Harry, Harry had saved him from a life at Azkaban and then taught him how to defend himself from vigilantes, Harry was a good person. Draco didn't hate Harry, he l-

"_**He will destroy us!**_" The voiced screamed in his mind.

'_Us?'_ In a brief moment of clarity, Draco blinked, '_Who is 'us'?'_

Harry saw Draco hesitate and grasped his wrist, "Draco, put the locket down…" Harry's eyes were focused in determination, "I know this isn't you…just let go of the locket…"

Draco looked at Harry, than at the locket in his hand. The voice in his head kept screaming at him to kill Harry but Harry kept a steady grip on Draco's wrist. With what will power he had left, Draco loosened his grip on the locket enough to let the necklace slip through his fingers and clatter to the floor.

Immediately, Draco was free of the voice screaming in his head and felt his knees give out. Harry knelt in front of Draco, still holding his wrist.

"What…what was that?" Draco asked weakly, looking at the floor. He didn't trust himself to look at Harry for fear he would try to kill him again.

Harry sighed, "That was a Horcrux…I guess I should have realized you didn't know what they were, did you?"

Draco shook his head, "Whatever they are, I don't want to be touching one again…"

"They're pieces of Voldemort's soul…" Harry said quietly, "And it was trying to possess you Draco."

Breath catching, Draco looked up in shock despite his earlier shame, "Possess me?" he asked, stunned.

Harry nodded, "When you first turned to look at me, your eyes were the same red as his…"

Draco shuddered, "I only picked it up through…you picked it up earlier…why didn't it effect you? Are you immune to its power because you're the Chosen One or whatever title you have?"

With a sigh, Harry shook his head, "I'm not immune to it Draco, I just know how it works." Slowly, Harry unbuttoned his shirt enough to reveal an oval shaped scar over his heart. "I was wearing the locket when it did that Draco, and then later it tightened and tried to choke me because I was trying to destroy it….it is an evil device and only those who are evil are immune to its tricks."

"Are you saying that it won't try to possess or kill you if your evil?" Draco asked, staring at the locket.

Harry nodded, "Which means you aren't evil if it tried to possess you." He stood, buttoning up his shirt again, "Well it's late Draco, shall we get some sleep before we go off to war?" Harry extended a hand to Draco to help him off his knees.

Draco looked up at Harry before taking his hand, holding it tight as he too stood up, "Harry, I… thank you…"

Harry raised an eyebrow, "I only helped you stand up."

"Not that, well that too, but for saving me." Draco said quietly, walking with Harry out of the study.

Harry chuckled lightly, "Saving people is what I do; it's more or less my calling."

'_Yes it is Harry, and only you know how to do it so well…'_

_

* * *

_

_Yay! It's longer than last chapter lol, and there was a moment between Harry and Draco. Was it huge? No, but I'm sure that the fangirls/boys will think of something._

_Again, I am keeping my contest open until I get some entries, so if you thought you were too busy, feel free to give it a shot! _

_Alright alright, question time! I know you all will be able to get creative with this one: Who do you think is Oliver's special someone?_

_Well it's one in the morning over here, so I'm going to bed! Reviews are my crack!_

_Until next time!_

_slavetothepen  
_


	15. Chapter 15

_Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I was **amazing!**__ It was totally kick-ass. Don't worry I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't seen it yet, but I will say that the movie definitely helped me write this chapter. _

___Housekeeping notes first: quite a few of you rang the canon alarm on me for the number of Horcruxes Voldemort should have, and after double checking my research, I realized that I was wrong in assuming that Nagini was a Horcrux before Harry was born (it happened in the summer before Harry's 4th year if you are curious. Voldemort killed Bertha Jorkins). So I am leaving it up to my readers to decide how to play off this mistake: should I have Harry and co. figure out that Nagini is not the Nagini they know or should I continue like nothing happened? I will have a poll for this on my profile. *Note: I will warn you now, I have at least **one**_ more tweak from canon in store and I will tell you now: Harry is still a Parselmouth. Technically, he shouldn't still have this gift because he no longer has Voldemort's soul, but I couldn't let go of Harry's most bad ass gift. Love me? Hate me? We'll see*

_Some of you also were annoyed at how helpless Draco(not Taipan) is acting right now. I don't blame you, he's a bit of a pansy and no, he will not stay like that. Draco will undergo some serious maturity and growth...and backbone, he's getting that too._

_I feel like I'm forgetting something...oh well! Here's chapter 15!  
_

* * *

"This is horrendous…" Hermione whispered, holding Ron's hand tightly. Ron nodded, pulling on his hood to keep his face hidden.

The auctions were exactly like there were called: there were several men, women and even children being led into the busy street and onto the auctioneer's platform, on display and soon sold to the highest bidder.

"It's a slave auction, Hermione." Harry muttered, "What did you expect?"

Hermione nodded slowly as they made their way down what used to be Diagon Alley. Of course now it looked more like Knockturn Alley, with all the old lighthearted shops long gone and shops of dark magic taking their place.

"It only gets worse." James muttered as he walked beside Harry, "The word 'slave' is an optimistic term. Most of the muggleborns bought today will most likely be used to test new curses and poisons, it they're lucky…" He trailed off, pulling Harry's hood over his head, "Be careful with your hood, you're a wanted man now."

"Someone is always 'wanting' me…" Harry replied, "Why aren't you all wearing hoods? Aren't you all wanted for treason or what not?"

It was true, while Harry, Ron and Hermione wore heavy hooded cloaks, James, Frank, Tonks and the other Order members that had joined the mission were wlaking freely in the street. Yet none of the Order looked the least bit worried about being arrested.

James shook his head, "Heavy cloaks are too suspicious looking if we all wore them" Before Harry could ask more, James continued, "We have other ways of avoiding arrest."

Seeing Harry's confusion, James led Harry over to one of the shop windows. "Tell me who you see."

Harry raised a curious eyebrow, but looked at this reflection in the dusty window. He could see his own reflection with black hair and trademark scar under his hood, and Ron and Hermione behind him. But beside him…Harry had to blink to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating.

Beside him, Harry was a positive he saw a short, squat man, his head and face covered with thick, wiry gray hair.

Harry looked back at James, confused. His father stood tall and clean shaven and his hair was ink black. His father's reflection had a round, rosy face, brown eyes and a joyful smile. James Potter's face was pale and lean, his one eye hazel and his expression determined.

"What…how…?" Harry asked, astonished as he looked between his father and his reflection.

"All the Order members are under a _Fidelius_ charm. Every time we leave the headquarters, we get new faces," Tonks replied, her own reflection showing a dainty lady with long blonde plaits, "This is how we look to everyone."

Hermione looked amazed, "That is incredible spell work…" She commented.

Ron raised an eyebrow, "How is it that we can see you then?" He asked, looking at the reflections curiously.

Frank shrugged, "You all have set foot inside the headquarters. That reveals us to you, even if you aren't under the charm. The only other way to break the charm is to figure out who's under what disguise."

Ron nodded slowly while Hermione was still admiring the work of the spell.

Harry turned back to James, trying to turn his focus back to the mission at hand. "We should hurry…If possible; I'd like to save some muggleborns while we case some chaos."

The Order nodded before continuing down the deary street. As Harry tugged on his hood, he was glad that Teddy was back with Neville and Draco in the safety of the headquarters. He just couldn't be sure just how many Deatheaters were waiting to kill him without question. And if Hermione was discovered to be a muggleborn…

Harry almost didn't notice when Ron stopped walking, staring at the side of a building. "Ron?" Harry asked, turning to look at Ron curiously. And immediately saw why Ron had stopped.

The wall was covered with faded and torn flyers and wanted posters, each one having the face of an Order member. Some of them had moving photographs while others had enchanted illustrations depicting Harry's friends and allies in their treasonous acts.

"Welcome, Harry," Frank said slowly, "To the wall of the _Most Treasonous Villians_."

Harry couldn't help but stare. He noticed that some members of the Order had higher prices on their heads than others. The younger Weasleys only had 10,000 Galleons for their capture, their only crimes were "_Aiding Known Criminals_"; but Bill and Charlie, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were worth twice as much for _"Conspiring Against the King"._

The various rewards varied throughout the Order, some wanted for staging attacks or refusing to bow down to the King while others had specific crimes. He noticed that on Tonk's poster, there was a special note "warning" the public that she was a Metamorphmagus and could look like anyone. And his own father's poster had an enchanted illustration of the night his father lost his eye, alerting the public of James' "special features".

But Harry's heart dropped into his stomach as he saw his own mother's wanted poster.

"'_Lily Evans Potter: Rogue Mudblood'"_ Hermione whispered, sending a cold chill through Harry's blood. "_'Wanted for the attempted assassination of Our Lady Medusa and her unborn child'._"

Harry didn't bother asking who Lady Medusa was, he assumed it was more of the "affectionate" titles that were being circulated. Harry was too busy looking at the wanted poster for Dumbledore worth 100,000 Galleons for "_Leading the Conspiracy to Kill the King"_.

"Harry…" Harry looked at Ron, who was looking at the center of the wall, at a new poster. Harry's poster.

It was startling to see his own wanted poster so soon after joining the war, but not as startling as the illustration of him. While there was one recounting his attack on Bellatrix, the artist had also taken the time to draw Harry's face and, to be honest, Harry had never seen himself look more terrifying.

"They've outdone themselves this time." James muttered, "If you weren't my son, _I'd_ be scared of you."

Harry nodded as he looked at his illustrated self. While the drawing had Harry's basic features, the portrait Harry had a sinister smirk on his face and even laughed maniacally from time to time. "I'd be scared of me too," he admitted, " _'WANTED: Unnamed Suspect_. _Suspect was seen viciously attacking Duchess Lestrange and is a known cohort of the rebels. _**Warning**_: suspect is well versed in wandless magic and will attack with little provocation. __**WANTED ALIVE AND UNHARMED'**_…wait, Bellatrix is a duchess?"

Tonks nodded, "She's the aunt of the prince, it makes sense in the Serpent King's mind…but look at that reward!"

Surprised that he hadn't even bothered to look, Harry brought his attention to the figure at the bottom of the poster.

Ron's eyes were bugging out of his head, "Bloody hell Harry…you're worth more than Dumbledore…"

James stared, "Wanted alive and unharmed…that can't be good…" he muttered.

Hermione nodded, "Just imagine the chaos of people trying to capture you Harry…Harry?"

Harry smiled, "I think I've got an idea…"

* * *

"A glorious day to enjoy the supremacy of blood…" The Serpent King mused, taking a deep drink of wine from his glass. "Don't you think, Draco?"

The Prince smirked in the throne next to the King's as he looked over at Voldemort, "The supremacy of blood and the retribution of those who wish to undermine it." He added, watching from their private balcony as the slave auctions were underway.

The King couldn't help but be grateful that only he and his heir were attending the day's auction. Although Bellatrix had located his locket, he still had trouble looking at the woman without feeling the urge to _Crucio_ her to insanity…if she wasn't already there. And Lucius was only good for company when he had good news, which Voldemort knew the blonde man had none at the moment.

But his heir… the King smirked with his lipless mouth as he watched the blonde Prince. There was something to be said about the blonde, even if he had his…quirks. He was entertaining to watch to be sure.

There was a familiar hissing on the balcony and as a long, sleek emerald body moved through the balcony, the Taipan smirked and offered his hand to Nagini. The serpent coiled herself on the young blonde's arm and slowly made her way to his neck for more warmth. Soon the Serpent King's familiar was wrapped around the neck of the Prince, her tail lazily twisted on his arm and fingers.

"I wouldn't have paid half the bidding price on that mudblood, he looks like he's about to keel over from exhaustion." Draco scoffed, "What do you think?"

Taking a sip of wine, the King looked at the feeble man being led off the stage, "I personally agree," He turned to Nagini, "_What do you think, Nagini? Would you eat him?"_

There was a sharp hiss from Nagini as she observed the potential snack, _"He isss to boney. Nagini likesss them plump and juicccy…."_

"Definitely not then." Voldemort said dully as the next mudblood was led to the stage. He was only partially paying attention to his heir's appraisal and estimated bidding price, just content to sip his wine and watch the auction.

To be honest, all the mudbloods started looking the same after a while: same scared looks, same shaking bodies, same broken spirits. Of course, on occasion there would be fresh blood on the stage, usually a mudblood that had somehow avoided detection for some while, they usually went for three times as much as the normal slave because they had yet to be broken in. And everyone knew that breaking in slaves was the fun part…

"I say, what is that man doing?"

The King blinked slowly at the Prince's words and focused on the stage.

Sure enough, the auctioneer was interrupted in his bidding of a bushy haired mudblood by a hooded figure. The figure, the King assumed it was a man by the build, wasted no time in storming the stage, startling not only the mudblood and the auctioneer, but most of the bidders as well. Only when the man had attracted the attention of the entire alley did he throw off his hood, revealing the same rebel weapon that had attacked the Duchess Lestrange.

There were several gasps and wide eyed expressions as the most wanted man in the wizarding world stood boldly in front of them in broad daylight. The man's ebony hair was being tossed around by the autumn air, causing his cloak to billow menacingly and creating the perfect aura of a villain.

"Well, it seems your new toy is as eager to meet you as we are to meet him." Voldemort mused to the Taipan, almost watching in disgust as the crowd stood stunned at the brash behavior of the public enemy. If he hadn't known better, the King would have guessed that the people below him had all been stunned or petrified.

Only when the man showed he was armed with a wand did one woman scream, sending the crowd into chaos, some trying to flee the supposed mad man, others rushing towards him in hopes of getting the reward. The first few curses were all off aim and if any of them even appeared close to the menace, he was able to deflect them with ease.

The Prince stood from his seat, shouting harshly at the men to catch his prize, "Don't just stand there you fools, catch him!"

At Draco's words, the rebel weapon snapped his head to look in the direction of the prince, almost grinning before _Apperating _off the stage.

"What a coward!" The Prince almost huffed, "He didn't even let us curse him…"

Voldemort chuckled, "That was rather rude of him, wasn't it?" He gave another lipless smirk as he watched the chaos below. There were plenty of men and women scrambling around to get out of harm's way, and the escaping mudbloods didn't help the situation in the slightest. "And you so desperately wanted to meet him too…" There was a sudden _crack_ behind them, the sound of-

"Well I certainly wouldn't want to disappoint the King now wouldn't I?" A voice chuckled behind him. Both Voldemort and the Taipan turned to find the rebel's crafted man standing behind their thrones. Up close, the Serpent King could see the scar on the man's forehead and even make out one of the scars on his hand _'I must not tell lies'_…

"Good afternoon, _your majesty_" The man said sarcastically, before shouting at the top of his lungs, "DEATH TO THE KING!"

The roar of the crowd turned to the balcony, and seeing the terrorizing man so close to killing the king, eagerly sent several hexes and curses aimed at the wanted man…but also at the Taipan and the King.

Time slowed down in the single instant that the King had to act, and he hissed in anger as he heard the rebel _Apperate _off the balcony. It was sheer luck that he was able to perform a shield charm, but not fast enough to bounce the spells back. Instead Voldemort was only able to deflect them enough that they crashed into the surrounding building, causing the balcony to give a sickening lurch as its foundation was damaged and teetered dangerously to one side.

The Taipan, still standing, stumbled when the balcony lurched and the King watched as the Prince tipped over the side of the balcony. Nagini was able to twine herself in the railing of the balcony, abandoning her perch around the Taipan's neck for safer ground as the blonde fell.

The crash echoed throughout the streets as the bystanders stood in horror at the sight of the Prince laying in a pile of broken wood and awnings, no one daring to touch the heir of the Serpent King without permission.

Someone would surely pay.

* * *

Harry's heart was beating wildly in his chest as he crouched on a rooftop watching the aftermath of his performance. He hadn't done anything nearly that dramatic since…well probably since his last battle with Voldemort…but at least then he hadn't shouted _"Death to the King"_ like a lunatic.

He chuckled, maybe being a lunatic would break up the monotony of having to defeat Voldemort again. If the Deatheaters thought he was a lunatic, maybe they'd be more scared of him…or maybe Harry could get away with making mistakes because everyone assumed he had been insane at the time.

"Hermione is going to kill me…" He murmured, watching as balcony he had been previously on tilted to the side, barely stable. But as the Taipan fell, Harry couldn't help but turn his attention to a much smaller item that had fallen off the balcony.

Harry actually was glad for the distraction the Taipan caused, focusing the crowd's attention on the fallen prince. No one noticed a rosy faced man picking up a small cup before hurrying away into the alleys, and no one noticed a blonde woman transfiguring a newspaper to replace that cup before sinking into the background.

"Much easier than breaking into Gringotts," Harry muttered, "But just as dangerous…and stupid…" he gently rubbed his sore arm as he lay down on the roof to rest. He really shouldn't have been _Apperating_ with his burn injuries still healing, but like Hermione said, there would be chaos to get the bounty on Harry's head.

There was an enraged shout from the street below. Apparently the Taipan had survived his fall, and was still conscious enough to scream orders at the citizens below. Harry noticed that the expression on the Prince's face was similar to his Uncle Vernon's, which was odd to see on Draco's face.

The crowds scattered into the streets below, frantically searching for the mad man who had attempted to assassinate the King and the Prince.

Harry spared a glance at what he assumed was a now empty auction square.

Only to find the eyes of the Taipan locked onto his as the Prince stood staring up at Harry on his perch. Harry gulped and stuffed his hand into his pocket, grasping the phoenix feather that would serve as his Porkey. Now all he had to do was say the trigger word-

There was a sharp _crack_ behind him, and Harry stifled the urge to groan. _So close…_

"So this is where you are…" The voice of Draco Malfoy, the heir of the Serpent King, drawled smugly, "And here I am with you alone."

'_Damnit…'_

"I knew you were dangerous," The Taipan said in a sickening calm tone, "I saw what you did to Aunty Bella…beautiful work."

'_Wait, what?'_ Harry turned to look at the Taipan, his eyebrows raised. He hadn't gotten a good look at the Prince before, but now…quite frankly he hardly reminded him of Draco. Draco never looked quite so…loud. Or deranged.

"Did you know that it is a crime to spill pure blood?" The Taipan took a step closer to Harry, and Harry could see the drops of blood pouring off of the Prince's arm and wand. "It's a crime punishable by death…and you've done it twice." He took another step closer to Harry, "You should be killed twice you know…but on your wanted poster, it says you are to be captured alive and unharmed…do you know why?"

Harry was beginning to think that the Taipan was far too confident, seeing as he didn't call for back up, perhaps the best way to not get killed was to talk it up with the Taipan, and hope he could work the trigger word into the conversation. "I have no idea why." He admitted. True, it was an honest answer, but if the Taipan wanted to talk more than fight…maybe Harry had a chance of escaping.

The Prince snickered, "Because _I_ don't want you dead." He said calmly, "I knew that you would be fascinating when his Majesty and I felt the dark magic that created you."

'_Created me?'_ Harry raised an eyebrow, _'What does he think I am?'_

"And then to see you in action. You are powerful, wand or no wand." He grinned, "That curse you used on Aunty Bella, the way it caused her blood to spatter and spill in the dirt…it was beautiful…" There was a moment's pause before the Prince made some horrific noise that Harry realized was some sort of demented giggle.

'_I never want to hear Draco Malfoy _giggle_ again for as long as I live.'_ Harry resisted the urge to shudder.

"You will have to teach me that spell when you join his Majesty's forces." The Taipan continued, his eyes fixed in some sort of unholy obsession on Harry, "You must know all about the powers of dark magic, being what you are."

Harry, despite himself, took the bait, "And…what exactly am I?" he asked curiously. Did they suspect he was from another world? What if they knew who he really was?

There was a pause when the Prince's face was frozen in surprise, then he began to laugh, "You don't know what you are or how you were made?"

'_I would rather not think about how I was made, no child ever does.'_ Harry shook his head, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

The Taipan looked like Christmas had come early that year, "The King knew that you had markings of dark magic on your body, right on your forehead, but we had never suspected that the rebels would sacrifice the life of James Potter to give you a body!"

At this, Harry's mind crashed to a halt before trying to get his train of thought moving fast enough to process what the blonde had just said. Did Voldemort think that Harry was some sort of Necromancy experiment gone wrong? Or right?

Taking a gamble, Harry decided to run with the Taipan's thought process, "Only parts of me are from James Potter…" he muttered, sitting up while keeping his hand closed around the Portkey. Which was true…the other half came from his mother…

"Of course only parts of you, you are far more beautiful than the pictures of James Potter…and those eyes..._Aveda_ green eyes…was that part of the process?"

Harry was seriously starting to panic at the attention the Taipan was giving him. He honestly would have rather have both the old Draco and Dolores Umbridge than have to continue sitting with the Taipan. He was…unnerving…

"I suppose you wouldn't know much about that…we can talk about that when you join us." The Taipan sounded so sure of himself, "But tell me this: was James Potter already dead when they created you, had they dug his body out of a ditch from one of the many attacks that failed; or had he willingly given his life as a human sacrifice and died in front of all the rebels?"

Harry decided he was done talking to the deranged prince, "I have no idea what you are talking about, or what makes you think that I trust you." He said, hoping the Prince didn't come any closer, "But those I serve have given me a job to do, the means to do it and most importantly, a _home."_

At the word '_home'_, Harry felt the familiar sensation of a hook behind his navel, leaving behind a very angry Taipan.

* * *

"Harry James Potter, that stunt has _got _to be the most, idiotic, rash, stupid thing you have _ever _done in your life!" Hermione shouted as Harry landed on the floor of the study, wasteing no time in hitting his shoulder repeatedly.

Harry winced, "Ouch Hermione, I've still got burns you know!"

Hermione didn't look amused, "Oh, so now it hurts too much for you to be hit by a girl, but it doesn't hurt enough to stop you from causing a riot?"

"Well it worked, didn't it?" Harry asked, looking over at Dumbledore. The old man had a twinkle in his eye as he held the cup in his hands, showing it to the rest of the Order before placing it in a drawstring pouch with the locket and the diary, making sure no one could accidently get their hands on them…again.

James chuckled, "I'll tell you what Harry, I won't be surprised if you make the front page of the _Daily Prophet_ with that stunt. I can picture the headline now "_Death to the King: rebel terrorist attempts to assassinate his Majesty and the Prince.""_

Harry chuckled sheepishly, "I'm a terrorist?"

"A terrifying terrorist, if that show of yours was anything to go by Harry." Tonks teased, standing over by Remus,

Harry smiled softly, "Thanks Tonks...nice work with that scream. That really set things into motion."

Tonks nodded, proud of her contribution to the plan, "But what happened with you, Harry? What kept you so long?"

Harry blushed, rubbing the back of his neck, "I…er…I ran into the Prince."

At this, Lily's eyes went wide, "No! You didn't!" She gasped, sitting in a sagging chair in disbelief.

"Are you alright Harry?" James asked, a determined look on his face, "He didn't attack you did he?"

Harry was reluctant to share what happened, "Not exactly…" he mumbled.

"Not exactly? What does that mean Harry?" Ron raised his eyebrow, "Either he did or he didn't, it's simple."

"Well he didn't attack me," Harry admitted, "But I think he was hitting on me…"

* * *

_Teehee, ok, so it was 2 in the morning while I was writing the ending to that. Did anyone catch the _Achmed the Dead Terrorist_ joke? Lol, if not, oh well_._ And if you were slightly confused with what exactly went down: basically Harry made an uproar and purposely made everyone think he was going to kill the king, making everyone frantically try and curse him. Cue barrage of curses that stray and take out the balcony, which was only supposed to knock the cup to the ground, but the Taipan was a bonus._

_And yes, I'm sure Harry knows Voldemort isn't stupid, that he will soon figure out that his Horcruxes are vanishing. But that's next chapter._

_Oh! I remember what I forgot to mention earlier! Because next week is Thanksgiving (sorry to my foreign readers), I will **not** be updating next week. I will be with my family. So sorry!_

_Question time! You might need to remember back to chapter 1 for this one: Each of Order member's codename (that the Deatheaters hear instead of their real name) somehow ties to the character (ie Tonks-Mirage because she can change her appearance). So, pick one Order member and think of a possible codename for said character and why._

_And don't worry, my questions aren't all that serious, they're just meant to be for fun. Like one of my friends said that Harry's codename should have been Mongoose because mongooses (mongeese?) fight snakes and win. Lol, see?_

_Well have fun! And remember, reviews are my crack!_

_Until next time,_

_slavetothepen  
_


	16. Chapter 16

_I am SO sorry everybody! I never mean to be gone for so long! I did leave an update on my profile explaining my absence, but for those of you who don't read profiles (i.e. all of you) here's what I wrote:_

_UPDATE 12/11/10_: To those of you who have been patiently waiting for me to update _Savior's Calling_ (which I am three weeks late on), I apologize. Last week a terrible flu bug swept through my university, causing several students to be rushed to the hospital (and my American Literature professor to pass out in the middle of a parking lot and my British Literature professor to miss all of the classes she needed to teach).

Do not worry, I am fine, just a little weak. But I do need to recover as well as study for my finals this week. I will try to continue with my normal update schedule next week.

I hope you all understand and will try to make the next chapter I post longer (and maybe add a romance between some of the couples if you want).

_So yeah, life more or less bitch slapped me in the face. But everything is alright now hopefully. Now that the apologies are out of the way, I am happy to announce that I have my first entry for my contest: _QUEST _by_ Smithback. _Extra kudos for not only being the first, but also for writing in a language not your native tongue (Gracias, mi amigo/amiga)_

_As far as the poll goes: so far most of you tell me to not worry about changing my mistake. If you haven't voted yet, I suggest you do so. I always honor my readers decisions (as you will find out in this chapter [winkwink]._

_I think that's all the housekeeping, onto the chapter!_

* * *

"He what?" Hermione asked incredulously, her eyes wide with shock.

"He was coming on to you, Harry?" Ron blinked at Harry, who shrugged sheepishly. Harry didn't know what to say or do, especially at the sight of the horrified faces of the Order (with the exception of Moody with his permanent scowl, and Dumbledore, whose eyes didn't stop twinkling).

While Ron and Hermione looked disbelieving and the Order looked like the world had ended, Herry noted that Neville as trying to hide his amusement and Draco, who had somehow taken it upon himself to be Teddy's caregiver, had a thoughtful look on his face. Now what those thoughts were, Harry had no idea, but no doubt he was processing the concept that his other self was...well…

'_A freak…'_ Harry thought with a shudder, "Well I'm not entirely sure if he was coming onto me or not, but he did say the word 'beautiful' a few times…"

Neville chuckled, "Don't worry Harry, we all know you're beautiful."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Thank you Neville. But the Prince…I don't think he was sane at the time."

At this, Draco spoke, "If my other self was 'hitting on you', as you so put it, than insanity would be a logical explanation."

Ron sneered at Draco, "What is that supposed to mean, Malfoy?"

Before Draco could respond, Dumbledore raised a pale hand, "Now, now, I'm sure we can discuss our most recent victory soon enough. But first, if you please Harry, step forward."

Harry paused, but then curiously stepped forward, standing in front of the old wizard's desk. As he looked at his old mentors, he felt an all too familiar probing into his mind. Out of sheer reflex, Harry tried to block our Dumbledore with _Occlumency_. But feeble as his attempt was, Harry noticed that the probing had stopped as Dumbledore steepled his fingers, settling back in his chair.

"My boy," Dumbledore asked, "could you answer me a question?"

There was a stiffness that rippled through the Order as everyone gripped their wands. Harry noticed that even his own parents had a tight hold on their wands, and he couldn't help but wonder what test he had failed to suddenly become an enemy.

"Ask away sir…" He replied, glad to see that Ron, Hermione and Neville weren't reaching for their wands and Draco, besides the fact he had no wand, had no intention of attacking Harry, content to hold Teddy and watch in amusement.

Dumbledore pointed a long, pale finger, "Could you tell me who this woman is?"

Harry saw that the old man was pointing to his mother and wondered why Dumbledore would ask him such a simple question.

"That's my mother, sir." Harry said simply. The Order seemed to relax, and Harry was glad he hadn't answered incorrectly.

"Very good Harry." Dumbledore nodded slowly, "I apologize for brief interrogation, but in a time of war, anyone may be a spy. I am curious as to why you tried to use _Occlumency_ against me though…"

Harry blinked. _That _was why he had been under suspicion? "Habit I suppose," he admitted, "Voldemort constantly plagued me with visions when I was 15, not very pleasant visions might I add. Sirius ultimately died because of my inability to block out these visions…I don't like people in my mind." He added.

"Ah, that would explain your reluctance" Dumbledore replied, "Luckily for us, you prefer to refer to Lily as your mother instead as 'Lily Potter', as an imposter might have. None the less, I'm sure we all crave to know of your mission and how you managed to escape the Serpent Prince."

'_Of course you would…'_ Harry thought to himself. With a sigh, Harry recalled the events that led up to their retrieval of Hufflepuff's cup, including his improvised terrorist attack. When he described his encounter with the Taipan, he noticed both Rons turn slightly green and his parents looked horrified. Harry didn't blame them; the experience was hardly a broom ride over Hogwarts.

"He thought I was some sort of reanimated corpse," Harry shuddered at the image of the Prince's manic eyes lusting after him.

"An Inferi?" Frank asked, his arm tightly around Alice.

He shook his head, "No…" Harry said, trying to figure out how to word things properly, "He thought I wasn't human, he made it sound like I had been created from dark magic and human sacrifice-"

"Why would he think that?" Hermione asked, aghast, "Why would _that_ be the first logical explanation?"

"Well I highly doubt that the Taipan is logical-"

"-well the spell did call for human blood-"

"-I mean, who calls a man 'beautiful'- wait, what?" Harry sputtered, turning to face his mother, "It what?"

Lily blinked slowly, "Well the ritual we used to summon you was a very dark spell Harry," she said evenly, the Order nodding in agreement, "The spell called for human blood to act as a catalyst and connect the magic between the spell and the array-"

"You mean that…thing in the dungeon?" Ron asked, ignoring the confused look on his newfound twin's face, "That black mess on the stone?"

"First of all, we don't like to call it a dungeon." Fred started.

"It's more of a basement." George added.

"A basement?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow, "Something tells me that you don't exactly hold parties in that underground nightmare."

Remus cleared his throat, "No, just werewolves during that time of the month."

Suddenly Ron didn't seem so outspoken, muttering an apology under his breath while his scruffier looking twin joined his brothers.

Hermione had ignored Ron putting his foot in his mouth in favor of continuing her conversation with Harry's mother, "So the dried blood wasn't from Malfoy?"

Harry raised an eyebrow, _'Why would Draco be bleeding? He hasn't even left the building once…'_ he looked over at the blonde and was surprised to find that there was a nasty looking wound on Draco's hand, like…like something had tried to take a bite out of him…._odd…_

Turning his attention back to the two witches, Harry heard his father join the conversation, "That's my blood on the floor. I volunteered to give my blood for the spell."

Lily nodded, "Nearly passed out doing it, but at least he didn't have to give his life." She kissed James' cheek, "I would have been devastated if I had lost you."

It was only then that Harry noticed the gash on his father's forearm and silently vowed to be more observant, especially to other people's wounds. "So you've been running around this whole time suffering from blood loss and exhaustion, but you gave me a hard time for doing the same thing with burns?" He asked, crossing his arms.

James smirked, "You had to get it from someone, didn't you?"

Before Harry could reply, Dumbledore interrupted, "Harry makes an excellent point: we all must be very weary with the excitement of these past few days-"

Tonks muttered under her breath, "We've done more this week than we have in the past year…"

Dumbledore ignored her, "I suppose it would be best to rest and recover from our wounds and weariness while we plan our next mode of attack."

There were no objections, not even from Harry. At this point, his burns hurt so badly he'd even take Pomfrey's potions, no wait, he'd take _Snape's_ potions if they would ease the pain.

Apparently the meeting was over, as some of the Order members began to leave and for once Harry was more than glad to do nothing.

* * *

Hermione sighed to herself. Harry certainly had decided to make a name for him…_again._ It was almost humorous how fame found that man, even if he had tried to stay a secret, things would happen to make it impossible. And this time, Harry wouldn't be the Boy-Who-Lived; he'd be the Psycho-Who-Tried-To-Kill-The-King.

Ron opened the door out of the study for her and Hermione absentmindedly kissed his cheek in thanks, "Thank you Ron…" she muttered, lost in thought.

"Oi! Hermione!"

The bushy-haired witch looked up at the voice to see her boyfriend across the room, looking none too happy. But if Ron was over there…Hermione gasped as she looked up to see a very red Ron Weasley. The other Ron Weasley.

"Oh my goodness!" She blushed a brilliant red, "I am so sorry! I wasn't thinking…"

Her Ron made his way over to her, "Now that I don't believe. I can get away with that excuse, but you're _always_ thinking Hermione."

There was a moment when both Rons were staring at each other threateningly. Rather it was more Ron staring at his darker, scruffier looking twin and trying to assess him as a threat or not while the other simply stared back, unsure what to think.

It was Harry who graciously broke the tension, "Hey Hermione, just because they're both Ron Weasley doesn't mean you get to have them both!"

There a few laughs from the Order members and it was enough to end the silent war of the Rons as Hermione took her Ron by the hand, leading him down the dark hallway to maybe try and calm him down. She certainly didn't want to be the cause of any fights.

"Ron, I am so sorry." She started, "I really didn't mean to…I really did think it was you that opened the door for me…"

Ron crossed his arms, "So the fact that he hardly resembles me didn't faze you? You didn't notice the stubble he has that I don't or the fact that his hair nearly reaches his shoulders or that he has a nasty scar across his nose? Is the red hair all it takes to catch your fancy?"

Hermione had to admit that Ron did have a point, "You're right Ron, I wasn't thinking. Or rather, I was thinking too much. You know how I get when I'm thinking too hard on something, the world could burst into song and I wouldn't notice." She looked up at him, "And if the red hair was all it took to catch my fancy, trust me, I would have gone after one of your more level headed brothers."

A fire flashed across Ron's eyes, "Oh really then? And what, pray tell, is stopping you?"

She smiled, "I prefer my Weasleys to have an abnormal amount of Gryffindor courage," Hermione took hold of Ron's hands, uncrossing his arms, "Yet still witty enough to beat even the most challenging and enchanted chess games. I like my redheads to be strong in the face of danger, but human enough to get jittery over spiders." There was a smile threatening to cross Ron's face, "And of course, a strong supporter of S.P.E.W doesn't hurt at all."

The anger on Ron's face softened as he pulled Hermione close, "Have I told you 'I love you' yet?"

Hermione smiled cheekily, "Not in this universe Ronald."

Ron ignored the use of his full name, "Well then, I love you Hermione." He chuckled, "Just look before you kiss next time."

"Will do, Mr. Weasley." She chuckled, "I don't think I've kissed you today."

"Not in this universe, you haven't." Ron was nearly grinning.

Hermione nearly rolled her eyes as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Ron softly. Sure, Ron wasn't brilliant or amazing funny or even inhumanly brave; but he was more human than anyone else Hermione knew, her own little dash of reality from her world of books.

And that was all she could ask for.

* * *

Tonks chuckled as Harry's brainy friend accidently kissed the wrong Weasley. That was sure to be the butt of some jokes to come, if the Weasley twins…the original Weasley twins had anything to say about it. She smiled, glad to have a reason to be happy in such dark times.

"The mood certainly has lifted since your adventure to Castle Slytherin, hasn't it Nymphadora?"

Tonks looked over to see Remus Lupin sitting on the worn out couch underneath the window, and wondered when they had become the last people in the room. "I suppose it has…or rather, ever since we brought Harry here…" She admitted, making her way over to sit beside the werewolf on the creaky old sofa.

Remus nodded, "The boy does seem to add an element of hope to everything he touches, doesn't he?"

"That he does." She agreed.

Things got very quiet between the two, neither knowing just what to say to the other. Tonks thought about the small baby that the otherworlders had brought with them and blushed. The boy, Teddy, was _her_ baby. A baby that she had had, had _conceived_, with Remus. The thought was unnerving to say the least. It wasn't that the werewolf was unattractive, he did have that comfortable, worn in, look to him…but he was…well _old…_She could have been snogging one of the younger Weasley brothers and they would have been closer in age than her and Remus.

Remus seemed to be feeling a bit awkward as well, sitting so close to the mother of his child. '_Did werewolves call them children? Or were they pups?'_ Tonks admonished herself for the thought and for being so closed-minded about half-breeds. Wait, half-breed was derogatory wasn't it? Oh damnit all…

"So…" Tonks nearly jumped out of her skin when Remus spoke. She had been so lost in thought that she forgot that the man was there.

"So…" she echoed, tapping her foot nervously.

"So…Teddy…" Remus started, causing Tonks to cringe. She knew this was coming.

"He…seems like a cute kid. He's got your eyes…" She tried to sound complimenting.

Remus shook his head, "I think he has yours actually…Metamorphagus and all…"

Tonks really wanted to sink into the floorboards at that moment, "Right…"

Another awkward silence hung between them before Remus spoke again, "I can't say that I expected…well, you and I…or rather our other selves to be married."

Tonks chuckled awkwardly, "I must like older men."

Dear sweet Merlin, had she really just said that? Not only had she insulted Remus, but she made herself sound like she got her jollies from old, wrinkly wizards.

But to her relief, Remus smiled, "Apparently I must like younger women."

The two were able to share a chuckle over that one, the atmosphere lightened until-

"You don't…well, _fancy_ me do you?"

They both went quiet, and Tonks wished she had kept her damn mouth shut.

"Why, do _you_ fancy me?" Remus replied.

"I asked you first!" Tonks did not like where this conversation was going.

"Well I'm not going to say anything if you don't!"

"Fine!"

Another awkward silence and by now Tonks was begging for someone to come in and ease the tension.

"Wait, was that a 'Fine, I'm dropping the subject' or a 'Fine, I admit I fancy you'?" Remus asked, causing Tonks to look at him.

"I don't know, I'm the one who just found out I'm a mother!"

"Well technically…"

"Yes, I know Lily _and_ Alice became mothers of teenagers, thank you Remus." She pouted, tapping her fingers against her knees.

"And if it helps any, I just found out I got married and had a child with my best friends little cousin."

"It does help, Remus. Thank you." At least she wasn't the only one being awkward. Now if she could keep her mouth- "You don't want to…_you know_, do you?" Merlin must hate her, Tonks decided.

The werewolf looked at her with wide eyes, "Nymphadora, I hardly think it's appropriate to, well, take part in bedroom activities-"

"Damnit Remus, I'm not asking you to shag me, I'm talking about snogging!"

"Snogging? Are you saying that you _do_ fancy me?"

"Well there's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

This time the silence nearly drove Tonks mad. She had finally done it, she had officially said the stupidest thing ev-

"Fine."

"Fine? Do you mean 'Fine, I'll igno-" Tonks didn't get to finish speaking this time, as Remus put a finger over her lips.

"Let's skip the talking and figure this out the 'the one way to find out', shall we?" He said calmly, even if he looked as jittery as Tonks felt as Remus gently touched his lips to hers.

Tonks was so surprised that she had forgotten to close her eyes, but she soon found that there was plenty of time for eyeclosing. Remus was surprisingly warm for an older man, his lips weren't smooth and soft; Tonks could feel the ridges on his lips where he had bitten them from nervous habit or time he had spent as a werewolf. But the lack of perfect lips was somehow comforting, seeing as Tonks was perfectly aware that her own lips were chapped from many cold nights on stake out or other missions.

But state of the lips aside, the kiss was very pleasant. Remus was gentle, something Tonks appreciated in a time of war. She had seen enough harshness to last a lifetime, and any tender touch was welcome. The heat that Remus put off was nearly unnatural, drawing her in closer to the older man. She had heard that dogs had high body temperatures and thought that it must have applied to werewolves as well. '_Especially their tongues…'_ she noted as opened her mouth and let the older man take the lead.

It was several minutes before Remus pulled away, blushing furiously. Tonks thought that she must have been pretty red as well as she tried to think of the last time she had had a good kiss.

The werewolf cleared his throat, "Erm, could you remove your hand from my groin, Nymphadora?" he asked awkwardly.

The Metamorphagus blushed a deeper red when she realized she was nearly groping the older man and quickly removed her hand. She looked down, "Uh, Remus…do you mind removing your hand from under my shirt?"

The two adults quickly rearranged themselves to that they were looking straight forward on the couch, hands firmly on their knees. Tonks didn't know how to process the information she had just learned. On one hand, he was and older werewolf, on the other…

She opened her mouth to speak, but Remus beat her to it.

"Want to go again?"

* * *

Harry made his way down to the kitchen to get something to eat before bed. He had had a long day of causing riots and avoiding princes; a snack was more than called for in this situation.

He was surprised to see Draco already in the kitchen, even more so to see the blonde attempting to feed Teddy a banana.

"I think you might be better off mashing up the banana and giving him spoonfuls." Harry offered, taking the banana before Teddy made a mess, "Teddy's not old enough to chew yet. He could choke."

After a moment of looking at the banana, then back at Teddy, Draco mentally agreed and found a bowl to use for the banana.

"I never really pictured you to be the type to like children, Draco." Harry admitted, walking across the kitchen.

The blonde sighed, "To be honest, Harry, I'm not." He looked over at Teddy, "As shallow as it sounds, the closer I keep Teddy, the less danger I am from the Weasley Brute Squad. But I will admit that the little guy has grown on me."

"Was that before or after Teddy grew blonde hair?" Harry smirked knowingly.

Draco looked smug, "It's comforting to know that my little cousin has class. I'll be teaching him how to use silverware properly next week." It took Harry a moment to realize that the blonde had made a joke.

"I think Teddy is a good influence on you." He laughed, leaning against he counter.

Draco looked over at Harry as he crushed the banana with a fork, "When did you become so good with children, Harry?" he asked.

Harry shrugged, "After the war, I spent most of my time either teaching you or with Teddy." He admitted, looking at the baby sitting on the counter before deciding to sit on the counter himself and hold Teddy in his lap. "I guess you could say that Teddy and I have a lot in common."

"What makes you say that?" The blonde paid no mind to Harry holding Teddy, instead focusing on making the bananas the right consistency.

"Well the obvious: we both lost our parents to Voldemort's insanity." Harry played with Teddy's fine blonde hair, "But unlike my childhood, I'm going to make sure that Teddy will have a loving godfather."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Saint Potter strikes again."

Harry looked down, "You of all people should know I'm hardly a saint…" he murmured, thinking back to their sixth year.

The former Slytherin shook his head, "If attacking an enemy in response to nearly being tortured makes you think you're not a good person, then perhaps you need to remind yourself of how evil people can be…like my counterpart for example." A plate of yellow mush was under Harry's nose, "Is this good enough for Teddy?" Draco asked.

Harry nodded, "Yes, that's perfect…and if you're wondering about the Taipan, he's worse than everyone says." He shuddered, "I could never imagine you being like that."

"I could."

There was a moment that Harry just stared at Draco, who was calmly trying to feed Teddy. After a moment, Harry decided to speak, "You could?"

"I could." Draco repeated, carefully catching banana that had slipped out of Teddy's mouth, "When I said earlier that my other self must have been insane to proposition you, I didn't mean it as an insult to you."

"I didn't think you did, regardless of what Ron says." Harry chuckled, "So what did you mean?"

Draco sighed, "Let me ask you something: when you saw my other self, did he seem…almost confident that you wouldn't put up a fight? Like he expected you to swoon at his feet?"

Harry thought about it, "Well he did keep saying 'when you join us' and whatnot…what does that have to do with anything?"

"It doesn't remind you of our first little confrontation, when I tried to convince you that I would be a better friend than Weasley?" Draco looked up at Harry, "I, like my other self, saw you as something I wanted and intended to have, whether as a friend or minion or in his case, a bed toy. Now that you've rejected him, I don't doubt that he will try and make you submit to him in any way possible."

Harry blinked, "That's…good insight…"

The blonde rolled his eyes, "It is my mind after all, I should think that I should be the one who best understands how it works."

"What you haven't explained is how that relates to insanity." Harry replied, wiping Teddy's chin.

Draco nodded, "Well my family has been prone to insanity, after so many generations of marrying within the family and all-"

"I don't think you're family is _that_ insane."

A blonde eyebrow arched curiously, "You did meet my aunt Bellatrix didn't you?"

"Point taken."

"Yes, well you also saw how insane with power I was in our fifth year?" Harry nodded slowly, "Well if you saw how insufferable I was when I was merely a over glorified prefect, I don't suppose it's too hard to imagine me being born a prince of the Wizarding World."

"Did you think of this all on your own?" Harry asked, more curious than teasing.

Draco nodded, "While I was awaiting trial. I came to realize that I don't handle power of any type well. I'm more concerned with titles and fame than I am about the responsibility of said title." He sighed softly, "I'm not meant to be a leader, not all people are. And before you argue with me, because I know you love to, let me point out that there would be no leaders in the world if there were no followers."

Harry, who had so happened to open his mouth to argue, continued to do so, "You have to take some charge of your life you know."

"Like I said Harry," Draco replied, "if there were no followers in the world, there would be no leaders; just people going their own way."

Harry grinned, "Exactly."

* * *

_Yes, I know there wasn't a whole lot of plot in this chapter, but I wanted to pace things evenly in this story. No need to spread things out like Twilight like 'boring for 34 chapters, 1 chapter of super condensed action, boring for the last 3 chapters' (sorry my Twilight fans, not my cup of tea)._

_And as for the Remus/Tonks scene, yes, the whole thing _was_ supposed to be awkward. And I felt odd using so much British slang, I only hope I didn't misuse it (I know that's a pet peeve of mine)._

_Question time! How should the Taipan try and seduce Harry next? I can see pretty creative ideas already lol._

_Well it's nearly 4 in the morning here, so I'm off to bed! _

_Until next time!_

_slavetothepen_


	17. Chapter 17

_Yes, I realize that I'm a day or so late. But I figured that I should have Christmas off lol. And I apologize for this oddly short chapter, I wrote it thinking I got a lot done, but then checked the word count and was surprised. _

_So anyways, both my poll and my contest are still open. At this point, I'm just wanting one more person to compete against my only other entry just for the sake of good sportsmenship lol. And The poll is actually pretty close, it's only a matter of three votes between first and second, so if you want your voice heard, better speak up._

_Which oddly enough, brings me to my next point. Some of you expressed disappointment in the fact that there was Tonks/Remus. But for those of you that remember far enough back, I did have a poll asking who Remus should be with, and Tonks not only won, she beat Sirius by a **lot**. So, yes, I do honor my readers responses and desires._

_...but I'm always game for adding another slash couple (sorry if the Harry/Draco is a slowburner, that's on purpose) if you guys so desire._

_But enough about that, here's your Christmas (or whatever holiday you do celebrate) chapter!_

* * *

As the weeks passed, winter descended on the country side; bringing with it a thick blanket of snow that smothered both buildings and landscape.

And, unfortunately, smothered the patience of the Order. Weeks of observing the Serpent King had brought them nothing, no sign of any of the other Horcruxes (with the exception of Nagini, but they had already decided that killing the snake would work best if done last), no clues about where they could possibly be.

Nothing.

"I never realized just how much work went into finding a mere seven objects…" Neville sighed, making his way through the snow with his cloak wrapped tightly around him.

Alice nodded, keeping her hood up as well, not to disguise her face but to guard herself against the cold. In her hands she held a bag for which to buy the food they would need in the winter months. She gave her son a careful glance as they walked down the street. "How long did the hunt take you when…" she stopped talking as they walked past some wizards speaking in a cluster, "…well, the last time you did this?"

Neville chuckled softly, taking care to stay close to his mother, "Well to be honest…I was never really involved with Harry and the others that much." He admitted, dropping his voice to a whisper, "I was more or less an outcast for the better part of my Hogwarts years."

"Oh I don't believe that Neville." Alice smiled softly, stopping to purchase some goods from a vendor, "You all seem like great friends, and you are a fabulous dueler: that much I have witnessed."

With a slight wince, Neville shook his head, "That wasn't until my later years. For the first half of my schooling, I was a coward and useless with a wand." He chuckled slightly, "It wasn't until 5th ye- I was 15 that Harry took the time to train me and he helped me find my own courage."

This caused Alice to furrow her brow, "So how is it you managed to find yourself brought to our world?" the talk of the varying worlds caused their voices to hush, "I never did get to hear the story of your amazing journey."

Neville nodded, "Well to be honest, Ron and I were the Aurors in charge of Harry's disappearance." He smiled softly, "Hermione came over with Teddy while we were searching Harry's house for clues. Of course we had no idea that he had literally just vanished thanks to your little spell. Hermione was the one who thought to use runes to try and find Harry, but Ma-" he stopped, catching himself from saying 'Malfoy' in the crowded street, "-Blondie did something, I'm not quite sure what, but he gave his blood to change the spell, which brought us here."

Alice chuckled softly, "My son, an Auror. To live in a world where such an honorable position exists is a joy in itself to hear."

This brought a smile to Neville's face, to hear his mother sound proud of him made him happier than Alice could ever imagine. There was a moment of silence as they continued to walk down the streets, stopping only when Alice bought more food and supplies for the Order, leaving Neville to keep watch for her. And as he kept watch, Neville noted that there was certainly something…odd about the streets and people.

For one, everything was black. Sure, black cloaks weren't that unheard of, but on every single man, woman and child? In fact, every visible fabric was black, even some of the wood had been charmed to appear as if they were burned black.

And the snakes. Neville fought the urge to cringe at the sight of the dead snakes that hung, nailed, over the doorframe of _every_ door and window. Some even went so far as to wear the dead snakes around their necks or on their heads like crowns.

"Uh….mum?" Neville muttered, trying to discretely get her attention without gagging.

Alice looked up from putting several apples in her enchanted bag, "Yes Neville?"

Neville cast a wary glance at the snakes, "…What exactly is with the snakes?"

The vendor selling the fruit sent a scathing glare at Neville before looking at Alice, "Is your boy stupid, ma'am, or just rude?"

Alice was quick to jump at the question, "Don't mind him, sir. He's been living with his father in the south of France and the lazy lout never bothered to teach him manners." With a huff, Alice quickly slapped Neville upside his head, "Don't you worry, I'll straighten him out."

With a gruff nod, the vendor turned back to his business with one last glare to Neville. Alice took the opportunity to drag her son into an alley before Neville brought any more attention to them.

"Ouch…" Neville murmured, rubbing the back of his head, "Mum, what was that about?"

Alice sighed, looking down the alley to make sure that they were alone before continuing, "I'm sorry Neville, but its considered treason to forget the sacred _Nuit de la Foi Noire."_

Neville blinked. Was that French? "The what now?"

"The _Nuit de la Foi Noire._ The Night of Black Faith." Alice explained. Even though the translation meant nothing to Neville.

"I'm sorry, but I still have no idea what that is…is it that important here? Some Deatheater holiday?" Neville lowered his voice as he saw his mother's face furrowed in worry.

She quickly shook her head, "No, no holiday at all. It's the day that the Serpent King himself declared a day and night of mourning. Today marks the date of the death of Lady Medusa and her unborn child."

This only caused Neville to be more confused, "Mum, you need to stop using nicknames or code names and just tell me who you're talking about."

Alice nodded and tried again to explain to her son the morbid day of mourning.

Neville's eyes only widened at her words.

* * *

"Harry!"

Harry looked up from watching Fred and George bicker with the Ron twins and at Neville, "Hey Neville, did you get enough food? Ron and Ron might have just cleaned out the pantry."

Neville shook his head frantically, sending snow onto the floor, "Harry, forget the food, I need to tell you something."

This caught the attention of Hermione, "What's wrong Neville?" The bushy haired witch walked over from where she was talking to Lily about some spell or other, "You and Alice…I'm sorry, your mum, weren't attacked, were you?"

Again Neville shook his head, "No, nothing happened. Well, not nothing, something did happen, but nothing like where we were attacked or anything…"

"Sounds like Longbottom got hit by a Babbling hex." Malfoy drawled, wrapping an outdoor cloak around him tightly despite the fact he had never once been outside.

"No!" Neville furrowed his brow in frustration.

At this, Frank looked over at Alice, "What happened?"

Alice sighed and set her bag on the kitchen table, "Neville almost got us arrested for asking out loud about the Night of Black Faith."

There was a ripple of nods and understanding was heard among the Order members, while Harry raised an eyebrow. This was certainly something new. "'Night of Black Faith'?" he asked, "What's that?"

Lily gave a frustrated sigh, "It's a holiday that the Serpent King enforced. It's in memory of Lady Medusa and honoring her death." At this, she rolled her eyes, something that even Harry was amused to see.

"Lady Medusa…that sounds familiar…" Harry muttered, trying to think of where he heard that name before.

"It should sound familiar Harry." James told him, rubbing the back of his head, "it was on your mother's wanted poster. _'Wanted for the attempted assassination of Our Lady Medusa and her unborn child'"_

Hermione raised her eyebrows, "Now I remember! So is this night to remember the day you killed her?"

Lily sighed again, "No, unfortunately I'm only wanted for the _attempted_ assassination. No, the _Lady_ Medusa died in childbirth, if you can believe it." She scoffed, "As if that woman as a single motherly bone in her body."

"Wait wait wait, I still have no idea who the Lady Medusa is." Harry shook his head, somehow regretting not asking about this titled woman sooner.

"Guys! That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Neville huffed, flinging off his wet cloak.

"So tell us already Neville!" Ron groaned, wrapping his arm around Hermione while his twin sat with his brothers.

Neville furrowed his brow again, "Lady Medusa is Narcissa Malfoy!"

"_Was,"_ Sirius snarled, "the bitch is dead now."

But there was a silence among Harry and his friends as they all slowly turned to look at Draco. Harry could see that the blonde was conflicted, and Harry could understand why. While Lily had said that the Narcissa Malfoy of this world was heartless, Harry had personally witnessed the extent that their Narcissa had been willing to go to insure her only son's safety. And Narcissa had been all Draco had left before…well, before they had been brought into this world.

After a long silence, Draco spoke softly, "What day is it today?" He asked softly.

It was Alice who decided to answer him, "It's the 27th of December." She said softly, hanging up her own cloak by the door.

Draco nodded, then slowly stood and walked upstairs without a word. The Order could hear the quiet click of the study door shutting behind him.

"What's with him?" Charlie asked, already taking a bite out of an apple that Alice had purchased.

Harry pushed up his glasses to rub his eyes, "He just found out that his mother is dead in this world and that you all are dancing on her grave, figuratively speaking."

"Yeah, but he's a Malfoy." Percy added, "And all the Malfoy's are evil here. He should have known that."

"Well in our world, Narcissa Malfoy saved my life." Harry said simply, ignoring the gaping mouths of the Weasley's, "And our Narcissa was willing to lie to Voldemort's face if it meant her son would be safe." He added, looking at Lily.

Hermione nodded, "It's true…" she murmured, "I saw the memory myself…"

Lily blinked, "I guess this just goes to show just how different two worlds can be…and all because of one choice…"

Harry nodded, "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll check on Draco…" With that, he got off the rickety chair he had been sitting on and began to make his way up the stairs.

* * *

Harry found himself pausing in front of the study door, which was odd. It wasn't like him too over think things before doing them. Hell, it was a miracle if he _ever_ thought of things before acting. And here he was, debating on opening the door or not. On one hand, Draco could need a friend to talk to, not a crony or a member of his demented family. But on the other hand, it could be possible that Draco simply wanted to be alone with his thoughts.

Of course after a few moments of internal debate, Harry's need to save everyone won out…again, and he slowly opened the door.

The room was incredibly dark, with the exception of one lit lamp on the table where Draco was sitting. Harry could vaguely see copies of _The Daily Prophet_ sprawled over the table, and Draco staring down at a particular copy. As he got closer, he could see that the date of each paper was the 27th of December.

'_Well that does make sense._' Harry thought, _'I probably would have wanted to read about my mother's death…wait…no I didn't….then again I was 11…'_

While Harry's mind wandered, he didn't notice the blonde hastily wipe his eye with the back of his hand.

"They called her Lady Medusa because she was a lady among the nest of serpents." Draco said quietly.

"What?" Harry asked, slightly ashamed that he was hardly paying attention.

Draco looked over at Harry, "Instead of giving her the title of a serpent like my aunt Bellatrix, they called her a lady." He chuckled dryly, looking back at the paper, "But the paper also writes that her crowning achievement of her life was giving birth to me…I mean the Taipan."

"Does it?" Harry was curious as he leaned over Draco to get a good look at the article. It didn't take long to find the excerpt that Draco was referring to.

"…_**While the Lady Medusa was pure by birth, her place among the Serpent King's most honored officers was solidified when she gave birth to the firstborn son of the King Cobra, Draco Lucius Malfoy. He was the first child to be born among the King's servents, and the King has since been fond of the boy.**_

_**Following the Lady's death, His majesty has said that he has decided to take the boy on as his heir, in her honor…."**_

"Sickening isn't it? To think that the death of my mother was what made me prince." Draco muttered, looking at his hands.

Harry sighed, "Not as sickening to think that the death of _my_ mother was what made me a celebrity."

Draco tried to chuckle, but it came out a choked sigh, "This must be payback for every slur I made against her to try and anger you."

"Nah, I don't think so." Harry sat next to Draco, "It's just how things happened."

It was hard to tell if Draco agreed or not, because he merely changed the topic. "At least they buried her in the Malfoy tombs instead of somewhere in Hogwarts…" he murmured, his pale fingers tracing the picture on the front page.

Harry had to admit, Narcissa Malfoy looked beautiful even in death. The picture showed her in her casket, dressed in the finest robes (or so Harry thought, he wasn't exactly a good judge on such things) and her hair was pinned up in such a way that made her retain her elegance in her grave, complete with a glamorous necklace and priceless earrings, even an ornate diade-

Harry stopped, almost choking on his own thoughts.

"Draco!"

The blonde nearly jumped out of his seat, "For Merlin's sake Harry, do you have to yell?"

Harry didn't reply, but snatched the newspaper from Draco's hands and sprinted downstairs.

"Ron! Hermione!" Harry shouted, leaping down the last four steps in one go, "You have got to see this!"

This time, the entire Order nearly skipped a beat, not used to sudden loud noises. Ron looked over, "Blimey Harry, wake the dead, why don't you?"

"It's the dead are making me so excited!" Harry blurted, not really processing how odd that particular sentence sounded.

James rose an eyebrow, "…Are you feeling alright Harry?" he asked, walking over to check on his son.

Harry waved him off, "Ron! Take a look at this! You too Hermione!" he shoved the newspaper into their faces.

While Ron and Hermione looked at the paper, the Order looked over their shoulders, "It's the article about Lady Medusa's death, that's all." Sirius shrugged.

Harry frantically shook his head, "No, look at the picture! Look at what she's wearing!" he urged.

The Order looked at the picture despite the fact that it would mean nothing to them, but Ron and Hermione saw exactly what Harry had seen.

"Merlin! Is that-?"

"I think that is Ron…"

Harry nodded, "Ravenclaw's Diadem."

The Order looked at Harry, confused. Even Neville at this point was slightly lost. But the three clutching the paper suddenly forgot that there were others in the room.

"This doesn't make any sense." Hermione whispered, "I had assumed that he would have kept all his Horcruxes close to him now…"

Ron nodded, "Maybe he wanted one far away…trying to have the best of both worlds?"

Harry shook his head, "What does it matter? We know where it is now, that's all that matters now."

"Harry, it makes all the difference, especially if we want to find the ring and…whatever number 7 is…" Hermione murmured.

"Oi, anything you want to share with the rest of us?" Sirius crossed his arms, looking slightly annoyed. Several other members, Weasley clan mainly, followed suit.

"Oh!" Harry chuckled, "Sorry! We just got excited!" He held the newspaper in one hand and pointed with the other, "It's just that we found the next Horcrux."

At this, excitement brewed with all those in the room. At last, after weeks on end with no luck, they had finally managed to get their next lead and get one step closer to defeating Voldemort.

"We should start planning our attack right now." Bill said, popping his knuckles absentmindedly. His brothers (including his trans-dimensional one) agreed readily.

"It's a good thing the Malfoy's don't live near their tombs anymore, or breaking in would be difficult." James noted, recalling what he read in the article.

"Why break in?" Harry turned to see Draco walking down the last few steps of the stairs. Suddenly he felt guilty, not only had he interrupted Draco's reflection time, he had also stolen the paper he was reading and then given the Order _another _reason to celebrate his mother's death; not to mention leave him all alone upstairs and completely forget about him once he got downstairs. He hadn't even had the decency to hear Draco come down the stairs.

"Well we sure can't get in any other way." Moody grunted.

"Sure you can." Draco said, "I am a Malfoy after all. I've been to crypts back home, and only a Malfoy can open the doors."

"Which was why we were going to break in." Sirius said.

Draco shook his head, "If …Voldemort put his soul there, it could very well be armed with wards to prevent intruders….I could very well be the only person who can get into that mausoleum."

"No way are we trusting you with something so vital!" Frank blurted.

Harry noticed Draco take on his self righteous stance, "I haven't left this house _once_ since I've arrived, regardless of the fact that _I'm_ the one who brought the Longbottoms their son back, not to mention Teddy and the rest of Holy Gryffindor Trinity. And regardless of what you want me to believe, I know it's because you don't trust me! Harry says he trusts me and even Dumbledore says he trusts me, but when is anyone going to actually act on that trust?"

It was certainly the closest Draco had come to sounding like his pre-Deatheater days, but of course he did have a point.

"Draco has to come with us." Harry said.

"What?"Charlie looked at Harry like he had grown a second head "Are you kidding Harry?"

Harry shook his head, "Draco makes a good point in all of his arguments, and I don't know about you, but the sooner we get that diadem and the less noticed we get, the better. I'm sure we can trust Draco to walk in to a building, grab a crown, and walk out without killing himself."

* * *

_Well that just seemed like a non-subtle way to forshadow lol. And yes, I'm sorry, no Taipan in this chapter, it didn't seem right._

_Which I guess I'll use for my questions for you! Should the Taipan strike again next chapter and/or what couple do you want me to give you as an appetizer while Harry/Draco simmers? _

_Yep, I had TWO questions for you! Mwahaha! [strokes her cat while laughing]_

_...I keep thinking I had something else to say, but what do I know? It's four in the morning here and I have a dentist appointment in 7 hours!_

_Until next time!_

_slavetothepen_


	18. Chapter 18

_Happy New Year! [throws confetti] I'm excited because this is my first post of the new year! Huzzah! I don't have a lot to say as far as housekeeping goes but I will say that this chapter does have a SLASH warning._

_Oh, and for those of you who were worried, this is a Harry/Draco fic, not a Harry/Taipan fic. Yes, the Taipan will molest, but Draco will be victorious!_

_Anywho, I don't have much else to say except: Enjoy!_

* * *

It took far too long in Harry's opinion to form a plan of attack. Of course, it Harry had his way they would have gone the instant that they discovered the location of the next Horcrux. And, of course, Hermione had been the voice of reason.

"_We can't attack the tomb tonight, Harry" _she had said_, "If this night is as important to Voldemort as everyone thinks it is, then Malfoy Manor will be swarming with Deatheaters. The last thing we need is a full scale confrontation to alert Voldemort to what we are doing."_

There were times that Harry thought that he would get annoyed with Hermione being right, but while he was impatient, Harry was willing to wait and trust the judgment of the Order on when to attack.

"_The number of guards will trickle down after a while, but it won't be completely unprotected until the new year." _Kingsley had said on the topic.

That in itself had nearly driven Harry stir crazy. Granted, it was only a few days, but it was still frustrating to know exactly where the Horcrux was, but still wait and do nothing about it.

But soon their wait was over and they had chosen the perfect night to strike.

"Merlin, it's freezing…" Draco muttered, clutching his cloak as tightly around himself as he could, "Could someone please tell me why we are out here in the middle of the night during a snow storm?"

Harry tried not to chuckle at Draco's whining. After all, he did insist on coming and helping.

Frank looked at the blonde with a critical eye as the group crouched in a group of trees, "The heavy snow will cover our tracks come morning, leaving no evidence that we were even here. But go on, keep talking if you want to meet your princely self so badly."

That shut Draco up in a heartbeat, but the blonde did scowl something fierce at Frank. Harry on the other hand as impressed at the thought that had gone into the plan and wondered what would have happened if he had used the same planning in his own would.

Dumbledore had decided to send Harry with Draco because the rest of the Order felt that he was the only one that the blonde listened to. Harry was also glad to have his parents with him on this particular mission, it felt more like a family affair.

Remus knelt down in the snow, Tonks by his side while they waited to see if the coast was clear.

"Alright," James muttered, gripping his wand, "Alice, you go with Lily and Nymphadora and keep watch: Lily by the manor, Alice by the main gate and Nymphadora by the grounds forest."

The three women nodded seriously, their hands on their own wands.

"You know the signal?" The one eyed man asked.

Lily nodded, "Of course we do James." She gave her husband a quick kiss on the cheek, "Be safe." She murmured softly.

"Same goes to you." Alice gave Frank a quick hug before disappearing off to her position.

Harry couldn't help but notice that Tonks was whispering something in Remus' ear and that the two were clutching each other's hands before the Metamorphagus had to leave.

'_Well that's certainly new…'_ He mused, turning back to his father.

The men waited (albeit rather impatiently from Harry and Draco's side), simply staring into the darkness of Malfoy Manor, the moon above them as their only light. '_Good thing it's not full…'_ Harry couldn't help himself from thinking as he spared a glance at the werewolf.

After a few minutes of waiting, a faint glow of a _Lumos _appeared by the manor.

"Lily's clear then." Frank muttered, brushing snow from his cloak.

Another minute went before another glowing wand appeared by the forest.

"There's Nymphadora…" Remus said softly, relieved.

The other men nodded, staring in the direction of the main gate. A minute went by. Then another. Soon the men were starting to get fidgety.

"Come on Alice…" Frank grit his teeth, trying to will the glowingly light to appear where his wife was.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, a third light appeared by the main gate.

"That's the signal." James told Harry, "Let's go."

Harry, who had just finished pulling Draco to his feet, had no trouble following behind his father and the other men. It was exciting to be a part of something like this; it made Harry's heart beat wildly. He hadn't felt this way in months. Harry didn't feel the cold snow as it fell on them in heavy flakes, all he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears and all he could see was the white marble tomb fast approaching.

It was certainly smaller than Harry expected. As they entered the crypt, he could see that there was no way that it could hold more than a dozen people. And from all the ranting about his family lineage that Draco had done, there certainly should be more than 12 caskets.

"Draco, are you sure this is right?" Harry muttered, trying to ignore the way that the torches cast eerie shadows on the different facets of the room.

The blonde nodded, "It's exactly as I remember it." He said, looking around at the various marble statues.

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Shouldn't there be…I don't know…more dead people?"

Draco smirked, "Malfoy's would never bury their ancestors in plain view of just anyone." He shook his head, "This isn't the mausoleum."

This caused Frank to give Draco a critical look, "Then why the hell are we here?"

Draco didn't say anything in reply. Instead, he walked slowly to the center of the room, where Harry noticed a large coat of arms on the white marble floor. It was only now that Harry regretted not being fluent in Latin so he could understand the words written in onyx that had been so carefully inlaid in the flawless white of the floor.

"_Sanctimonia Vincet Semper."_ James read aloud, eyes narrowed.

Draco nodded, _"Purity Always Conquers"_The blond said quietly, standing in the middle of the crest, "This is where the crypt is."

"There?" Remus asked, looking outside to check and see the three watch points were still clear, "That's the entrance?"

Again Draco nodded, "Only Malfoy blood can open the door…" he raised a shaking hand, the one that he had wounded earlier, Harry noted. In the time that they had spent in this world, the wound had faded to a puckered pink bite wound.

Before Draco could tear open the thin skin with his teeth, James stopped him, "You're not an animal." He said, reaching into his cloak. Harry could see his father retrieve Sirius' knife and hand it to Draco, giving him a stern look before releasing his hold on the weapon.

'_Well at least there's a little trust building…'_ Harry thought as Draco pressed the knife to his palm. The blonde winced slightly as the blade bit into his flesh, causing a dark crimson to pool in his alabaster hand, _'When did I learn adjectives like that?'_ Harry blinked, staring at Draco.

"Stand back." Was all the warning Draco gave before the blood landed on the ebony crest. Immediately, Harry and the other men could see the floor surrounding Draco begin to sink and it was all Remus and James could do to keep from falling in. Harry watched as parts of the floor settled into descending heights, creating a spiral staircase deep underneath the room they stood in.

"_Episky."_ Draco muttered, closing the wound on his hand. Harry wondered why he hadn't thought to do that with his first injury, instead of letting it scar. But there was no time to think about that, as Draco had already begun to descend the staircase. "Come on, I want to get in and get out as quickly as we can…"

Harry nodded, following Draco with Remus, Frank and his father behind him.

Or at least, trying to follow him.

As soon as Harry's foot hit the first step, a jolt of pain shot through him, starting with his foot and intensifying through his body. This causes the other men to halt in their own attempt to walk down the stairs. Draco turned to look at Harry and his eyes widened.

"The wards have been changed…" he breathed as Harry was pulled from the staircase by James. "It used to be that a Malfoy had to open the door…now it seems only a Malfoy can enter…"

Remus and Frank shared a look and Harry knew what this new news meant.

Draco would have to continue alone.

"Draco." Harry said evenly. The blonde looked up at Harry from his position halfway down the staircase, "Don't spend any more time in there than you need. Get in, grab the diadem, get out. Don't think about-"

"There's no need to baby me Harry." Draco drawled with a tone that Harry was familiar with, "But I appreciate that you care." He smirked before continuing down the staircase.

"Well," Frank muttered, "it's in his hands now."

Yes it was.

* * *

Draco's heart was beating like a war drum in his chest, but he couldn't show such weakness in front of Harry, not after all Harry had done to get the Order to trust him.

'_It's always about Harry, isn't it?'_ he thought, _'I just can't do anything without Harry, can I?"_

He grit his teeth as he stepped off the stairs and into the long hall of the crypt. "Well there's no Harry now, is there?" He said, "Time for Draco to do something on his own."

There were fewer torches lit in the crypt, making things that much more eerie. But Draco tried not to think about that, he tried not to think about the dead bodies surrounding him as he walked, including the one of his mother.

'_No.'_ Draco steeled himself, _'That woman is not Mother.'_ He thought about all the things his own mother had done for him, and how, while not perfect, she was a good woman. And this…this…_Lady Medusa_ was an insult to his mother's name, she didn't deserve to share the same name, let alone the same existence, as his mother.

Now Draco was frantically trying to figure out if the caskets were sorted chronologically from ascending or descending date of death. True, he hadn't been lying to the Order when he said that he had been in the crypt before…he just neglected to mention that it had been when he was 7 years old and his father had brought him down to learn respect for his ancestors.

'_Here lies Brutus Malfoy'_ he could remember his father saying, resting his hand on a stone coffin as he did so. '_Edited the periodical _Warlock at War_ during the 17__th__ century.'_

17th century…Draco quickly found the remains his father mentioned and quickly read the plaque

_Brutus Percius Malfoy_

_1589-1680_

After reading that plaque, he read the one next to it and continued to do so through the centuries. Some of his ancestors lived to be much longer than Brutus, like his great grandson Hyperion, who lived to be nearly 200 years old. Others never got to experience life, like several who died in childhood. There were some who died the same day, like Antionette and Lucario Malfoy, who both had succumbed to the same bout of Dragonpox or Saphira Malfoy when she died in childbirth. There was a tiny coffin beside hers for the dead child.

So many names and stories and lives.

All Malfoys, all Slytherin. And here Draco was, doing something incredibly _Gryffindor_. He would say that his ancestors would be turning in their graves if they knew, but the sound of turning corpses was the last thing that Draco wanted to hear at the moment.

Instead he raced down the crypt until he found it. All polished and with fresh flowered on the top.

_Narcissa Black Malfoy_

_April 22, 1955- December 27, 1989_

With a deep breath, Draco raised his arms, _'Wingardium Leviosa." _ He commanded, hoping he was strong enough to lift the heavy stone tablet on his mother's tomb. With much strain, the white stone began to move, slowly but surely. Draco didn't need much, just enough to grab the diadem and run.

After a few minutes struggling, Draco fell to his knees to catch his breath. He needed to do this, if not for himself, than for Harry and the Order, even the new Weasel twins…

Draco pulled himself to his feet and staggered over to the open tomb.

"Hello Mother…"

* * *

"He'll be fine." Harry said, confident.

Remus was wary to be sure, "Are you sure we can trust him Harry?" he asked, looking at the empty pit that the staircase led to.

"We don't have much of a choice do we?" Frank said, "We can't exactly go down there and bully him into doing it, now can we?" he added, gesturing to Harry.

James nodded, "How are you feeling Harry?" he asked, "Not still in pain, right?"

Harry shook his head, "No, once I got off the stairs, the pain stopped." As if to prove his point, he bent his leg and flexed his foot before returning to his position, resting against the marble wall. "Oh, I was curious, why do you have Sirius' knife, dad?"

James raised an eyebrow, "I'm surprised you recognized it." He smiled, "I needed to borrow it for our own dark magic blood sacrifice." The one eyed man rolled up his sleeve to reveal two scars running up his arm.

"…Why didn't you heal that?" Harry asked, curious.

"Scars remind us of what we've done and why we continue to fight." Frank answered, "I'm sure you've got some scars with stories to tell."

Harry chuckled, "Oh you don't know the half of it. There's this one." He tapped his forehead, "And these two," he held up his hands for the other men to see, "And there's this one." He quickly unbuttoned his shirt enough to show his father and Frank and Remus the locket scar.

Remus smiled softly, "Are there any scars of yours that aren't from dark magic?"

Before Harry could answer, something caught his eye. More importantly, it caught the eye of all the men.

A light in the distance went out.

By the main gate.

"Alice…" Frank was at the entrance of the tomb before the other men could react. "Come on Alice…be alright…"

Harry's heart dropped into his stomach as the _Lumos_ didn't return.

"I have to see if she's alright." He said, "I don't see anything: no curses, no light from spells, nothing."

James grabbed Frank's arm, "We need to hold our position." He said.

Frank merely jerked his arm out of James' grasp, "My wife is hurt out there, I'm not leaving her!" Before the others could stop him, Frank bolted out into the snowstorm.

James grit his teeth, "Idiot…" he clenched his fist before turning back to Remus and Harry.

There was a tense moment while the three remaining men watched the darkness, praying that a third light would return to the night sky.

It didn't.

But a second light went out.

"Dora…" Remus gasped, staring at the darkness that now surrounded where Tonks' beacon was.

James was getting twitched, "Remus…"

"James…she's too young to get captured. They'd tear her apart."

James shook his head, "Remus, think with your head, not with your wolf."

Harry could see the tension between both men, each daring the other to move.

Of course it was Remus whose guilty conscience won out over orders as the werewolf took his wand and ran.

"Damnit Moony!" James yelled, "You snog her once and suddenly risk your life for her?"

But Remus was beyond hearing him; he was too far into the snowstorm to hear him.

Harry looked at his father, realizing that they were the only men left in the tomb.

"You do realize that her light will go out next, right?" he asked.

James clenched his fist, "…Yes…"

Harry nodded, "And that whoever is doing this is trying to lure us out…right?"

His father pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yes, I realize that…and Frank and Remus are usually so level headed about this…I don't know what's gotten into them…"

This made Harry go quiet, just thinking. The two men had nothing else to do but watch the last remaining light go out.

It wasn't until the last _Lumos_ went out that Harry felt a sudden wave to urgency to rush out into the snow, to try and see what was wrong. "Well at least I know why Frank and Remus suddenly were irrational…" he muttered, then realized that he hadn't felt this urge for Alice or Tonks…he cared about his mother more…which meant James was struggling to keep from sprinting out into the snow.

"Dad." Harry said, grabbing his father's arm, "Don't do it…that's what they want…don't go out there."

James nodded, looking away from where the light used to be. "Merlin…whoever is doing this isn't messing around…I think they charmed the building to make emotions run high…"

They stood in silence, trying to keep themselves from running out of the safety of the building.

That's when the screaming started.

Harry suddenly had a moment of clarity. That wasn't the scream of someone being tortured or terrified…that sounded more like someone being forced to scream…

Not that James cared what type of scream it was, "Lily!" he shouted, taking a leap off the marble entranceway.

"No, don't!"

"_Incarcerous!"_

Harry could only watch as his father was bound with ropes and fell face first into the snow.

Damn, why had Dumbledore sent three _couples_ on the same mission?

"I was wondering why the wards alerted me to an attempted break in at the Malfoy Crypt." An all too familiar voice echoed through the marble building.

Harry whirled around to see the Prince standing behind him, looking only slightly saner than their first encounter. His face was oddly calm, but there was something in his eye…it made Harry shudder. He also had no cloak to keep out the winter snow, Harry noted. _'He must have been in the castle before coming here…' _ He thought.

The Taipan smirked, "I am ravishing, I know, but if you are going to stare, please stare up here." There was a cold chuckle from the prince, as he stepped up to Harry. "Ah…at last I get to see the _Aveda_ green eyes up close…only to have them marred by these monstrosities." He drawled, taking Harry's glasses from his face

Before Harry could do anything, the Taipan tossed aside Harry's glasses. Now Harry was facing an insane prince _blind_.

"Much better." The prince cooed, calmly taking Harry's wand from his hand, "I can't say that I'm surprised to find you here. After all, no one else would be able to figure out how to open the crypt…even if you couldn't enter."

That's when Harry realized his mistake. _The step…the pain…damnit…it was his fault_.

"What were you going to do down there anyways?" The prince walked over to the staircase, "Nothing but dead bones down there…" The blonde took a step down the stairwell.

Even in his blind state, Harry could see that he could not let the Taipan go down those stairs. Draco needed time, he needed a way out safely, they needed that diadem. So Harry did the only logical thing that came to his mind at the moment.

He lunged at the Taipan, knocking the prince off his feet. It was all he could do to wrestle the blonde away from the staircase, even if he knew he was doing one of the most idiotic things he had ever done in his life. Harry was just grateful that the prince was taken off guard enough to have his attention diverted from Draco and the diadem. The two wrestled on the marble floor for quite some time. Granted it wasn't so much wrestling as it was them rolling on the floor, each trying to get on top of the other.

Finally Harry managed to pin the Taipan to the floor, straddling his waist while he held each wrist with his own while his breath came in heavy pants. The he was so close to the blonde that Harry noticed that he was coming back in focus for his eyes.

The Prince smirked, "I like a man who can handle being on top of me well." He licked his lips slowly while his half lidded eyes looked up at Harry. "It demonstrates power."

Harry blanched. Was that a _sexual_ reference?

"Now I'll admit, the catacombs weren't my first choice for our first intercourse," The Taipan continued, ignoring Harry's horrified look, "but I can indulge my more unorthodox tastes from time to time." There was a glint in his eye, "Afterall, I've never bed a necromancy marvel like yourself before…"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Harry blurted, sitting back in disgust. Unfortunately, he let go of the dark Draco's hands.

In an instant, the mischievously look on the prince's face was gone, replaced by a cold, domineering look. Harry wasn't prepared to be thrown off by the Taipan, or for him to reverse their positions, "No, what the hell is wrong with_ you!_" He hissed, clutching at Harry's hair, holding him in place, "I invite you to my bed and you refuse me not once, but twice!"

Harry tried not to looked pained or scared but the Taipan was insane…And Harry's point was proven when the anger melted off of the prince's face, "Ah, now I think I understand. Those pathetic rebels didn't give you the common sense to know when to be tempted by a stunning man." He smirked, leaning over Harry to whisper in his ear, "That's alright…I'll just take you right here."

Harry's blood ran cold before he could manage the sense to struggle against the Taipan, "Don't touch me!" he shouted, but he might as well as asked Ron to stop eating.

The prince smirked and pulled Harry's hair hard enough to force his head back before kissing Harry's throat. Harry could feel the vibrations of the Prince's chuckling against his throat as he sucked on the tender flesh. Harry shivered from the cold of the snow and the disgust of the man on top of him, molesting his neck with his mouth and-

"Hey! Keep your hands to yourself!" Harry shouted. To his abject horror, his voice had cracked during the demand, making it a pitiful one at that. If anything, the Taipan smirked before reaching down Harry's pants. "Stop it! I'm warning you!"

This caused the Taipan to turn his attention to Harry's mouth, crushing it in an abusing kiss. Harry could feel teeth bash against each other and winced. This was certainly nothing like the kisses he had before, but then again, he had never kissed a man before…and the Taipan wasn't a great candidate for his first. A sharp pain erupted from Harry's lip as the prince bit down on, still savagely molesting him. This was a nightmare for Harry, being raped by one Draco to save another…

"_Stupefy!"_

The groping and kissing stopped mercifully, but a dead weight fell on Harry, pressing him further into the marble floor.

"Get off him…" A voice muttered before pushing the Taipan's body off of Harry. Of course Harry knew it could only be one person, who else was there? But it didn't help that he could hardly see that night. "Oh, I suppose you'll be needing to see then…_Accio glasses!"_

Harry mentally kicked himself for not thinking of using wandless magic on the Taipan as Draco gave him his glasses back, "What happened here?" the blonde asked, looking at the nearly empty tomb.

Harry shook his head, "Long story and I don't want to tell it here." He stood slowly, trying to salvage his appearance, "Erm…thanks for the save…"

Draco nodded, "It seems like we're always saving each other…" He muttered, clutching the diadem as Harry went to release his father.

After a moment, Harry chuckled, "Ironic isn't it? That the Order was reluctant to trust you, and that tonight, you were the only one who didn't screw up."

* * *

The floor was cold when the prince woke up, and the world was too quiet. When he sat up, the room was deserted and the entrance to the crypt had been closed. And most importantly, the green eyed beauty had escaped.

Again.

"You win this time, nameless." He muttered, standing up, "But next time we meet, you will not escape me." He grit his teeth in sheer annoyance at the fact that his lovely kept escaping.

A sharp prick was felt against the Prince's lip. At once, his eyes brightened as he opened his mouth, taking out a sharp needle that had been wedged between his teeth.

Ah yes, now he remembered. Yes, he was sure that he had managed to make the green eyed man bleed and that he had pricked him with the needle.

Perfect.

"Yes indeed, nameless." The Prince laughed, "You win this time…for now…." His laughter grew more and deranged as he continued. By his standards, it was merely a matter of time.

A matter of time indeed.

* * *

_Oh no! Whatever is the Taipan planning? What is the significance of the needle? What plot will Harry fall into?_

_Only I know...but knowing you guys, half of you will figure it out and then I'll feel like a dodo. lol, jk_

_But I guess for this week's question, you can answer one of the above. And if you were wondering, yes, James, Remus and Frank were hexed to react on emotions and the women are unharmed lol_

_But it's time for this party girl to go to bed!_

_Until next time!_

_slavetothepen_


	19. Chapter 19

_Hello again all! Sorry I'm a tad late (in that I usually publish earlier in the day than this), but I was busy packing. School starts tomorrow! [insert groan] And hopefully I can keep up with my studies as well as this story. I apologize if my updates seem a little off schedule, but as soon as I find a rhythm, the chapters will start flowing!_

_Update: I now have two entries for my contest, which means that in a week, I'll declare the winner. So if you have any last minute entries, please hurry and send them in! _

_Also, my poll is so close, it's come down to two votes separating the leader from second place. So in a week I'll close that poll and put up a new one. And you may want to vote in this poll, because its a 'who dies' poll. I've gotten complaints about the Order not dying enough (which was slightly odd) but if you all want death, I will give you death! MWAHAHA!_

_So here's chapter 19! (wow, so many chapters!)_

_Oh, p.s.: Slash warning._

* * *

"Hm…I will admit, in hindsight, that perhaps two married couples were not the best decision to stand watch…" Dumbledore commented lightly.

Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes or make a snide comment at the obvious oversight on the old man's part. Instead, he turned his attention to the shivering bundles of blankets that were huddled tightly around the fireplace.

The women were lucky that the Prince had only decided to use minor curses on them instead of simply killing them. His cousin Nymphadora had sustained a rather nasty gash from a cutting spell, and Harry's mother was hoarse from screaming, but other than that they would be alright. From what he learned, the other men had abandoned Harry to see to their loved ones; only to be used as target practice for the demented prince.

"I don't know what came over me…" Remus muttered, giving his blanket to Nymphadora. Draco supposed that he wouldn't need it, being a werewolf and all.

"I do," Harry sighed, holding a piece of ice in his hand to nurse his bloody lip, "The Taipan enchanted emotions to run high, demented little bugger."

'_Well…'_ Draco thought, crossing his arms, '_That explains everything…'_

The blonde couldn't help but think about what happened while he was down in the crypt, facing his mother's corpse.

"_Hello mother." He had said, trying to ignore the blackened and decaying flesh on what he supposed would have been his mother's face._

_He could barely see the musty fabric of his mother's gown, and couldn't help but notice that it was blue. Blue had always been his mother's favorite color, she had always told him that it complemented her complexion quite well. And her body was dressed in silver jewelry, also her favorite. He could remember her words like it was yesterday._

'_Silver is like black, Draco," She said, "It's strong, elegant and it goes with everything."_

_Draco couldn't help but chuckle as he remembered his mother's words, only to feel choked. This was his _mother_, for Merlin's sake, he couldn't possibly defile her grave like this. His ancestors were watching him and looking down on him in shame._

_He could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest and his breath coming to him in short gasps._

_He should just turn and run, he couldn't possibly rob his own mother's grave…Draco turned to walk away from his mother's crypt, his footsteps shaking._

"_What the hell is wrong with you?" _

_Draco stopped. That was Harry's voice. In a moment of clarity, Draco remembered why he was there, remembered that the Order of the Pheonix, that _Harry_, had trusted him to grab that damn diadem._

_He grit his teeth as he marched himself back to the stone coffin, only to be confronted with his mother's corpse again. Her shriveled remains shook Draco's willpower._

"_No, what the hell is wrong with you!" Draco recognized that voice as his own. That could only mean one thing: his other self was there. But where were the other men? Shouldn't they be helping Harry? Draco's heart sunk into his stomach when he realized that the other men must have already been defeated while he had struggled over whether to rob his mother's tomb._

"_I invite you to my bed and you refuse me not once, but twice!" _

_That put a flame in Draco's heart. That pompous bastard had no place anywhere near Harry, let alone…Draco tried to get the image of Harry in the prince's bed out of his mind. It was hard because it was tempting to imagine, given that he and the prince had the same face…_

"_Don't touch me!" Harry shouted, his voice echoing in the catacombs and in Draco's mind. Harry needed his help! The blonde nearly bolted out of the crypt in that instant, but he remembered that while Harry did need his help, he also needed the diadem. _

"_Hey! Keep your hands to yourself!" This time, Draco didn't even flinch when he faced Lady Medusa's tomb, snatching the diadem right from her crumbling head before sprinting up the icy hall of the mausoleum. The names and stories of all his pureblood, Slytherin ancestors rushing past him, but in that moment, there was only one name that Draco cared about._

Harry.

"_Stop it! I'm warning you!" Draco took the stairs three at a time to get to Harry, only to freeze when he got to the top_

_Harry was on the ground and _he_ was on top of him. Draco could see himself straddling Harry, his tongue down his throat and…_

_Draco couldn't bear to watch his other self molest Harry any longer._ "_Stupefy!" He shouted, waving his free hand at the prince. The bracelet around his wrist warmed at the presence of magic and Draco was glad once again that Harry had taken the time to teach him wandless magic. '_I don't need a wand to protect people'_ he thought as he rushed to Harry's side._

"_Get off him…" He muttered to himself as he pushed the Taipan's body off of Harry. When the prince was off of Harry, Draco got a good look at him. _

_He was flushed, but that could be a mixture of the cold and the obvious struggle he had put up; his hair even messier than usual, matted in some places from sweat and snow and sticking up in other places from friction and nature. His cloak had long since fallen off, leaving him in a simple shirt, torn slightly at the collar, and his pants were unzipped from…Draco tried not to think about his darker self's intentions in that moment, instead turning back to Harry's face. His lip was bleeding and swollen from the savage kiss and his glasses were gone, giving Draco a perfect chance to see just how green they were. It was only when he noticed that those eyes were blinking furiously that he remembered that Harry couldn't see "Oh, I suppose you'll be needing to see then…Accio glasses!" _

_The small, wiry glasses flew from across the floor and into Draco's hand before he handed them to Harry, "What happened here?" he asked, not daring to ask anything too personal._

_Harry just shook his head, "Long story and I don't want to tell it here." He stood slowly, trying to salvage his appearance, "Erm…thanks for the save…"_

_Draco nodded, "It seems like we're always saving each other…" He muttered, clutching the diadem as Harry went to release his father. It was true, but it seemed that, to Draco, he would never catch up to the number of times that Harry had saved his life, literally or metaphorically._

_While he was deep in thought, Harry chuckled, "Ironic isn't it? That the Order was reluctant to trust you, and that tonight, you were the only one who didn't screw up."_

Draco returned to the present, watching as Lily fussed over Harry's bloody lip and the Longbottoms were being served hot chocolate by their son. The blonde had kept hold of the diadem out of sheer pride, he liked the fact that he had been the _only_ member of the task force who not only completed his mission successfully, but was the only man left standing.

A small coo turned the blonde's attention to his feet. Teddy was standing on wobbly legs, clinging to Draco's pant leg for support. With a smirk (never a smile, Draco had yet perfected the ability to smile and he wasn't about to attempt it unless it was perfect), Draco scooped the little boy in his arms, "I suppose you missed me, didn't you?"

The baby smiled, patting Draco's cheek giddily. It was nice having someone on his side other than Harry, Draco decided, and if Teddy had the ability to bring together two people who before had never thought the other was attractive; it wouldn't be long before Teddy convinced the Order that Draco was trustworthy.

Because Draco desperately needed, it was the Order's trust. He desperately wanted to be considered separate from his darker counterpart. To Draco, the Taipan was all of Draco's more unsightly characteristics, including his darker desires.

Draco spared a glance at Harry, remembering the sight of his other self nearly raping the bespectacled man and unable to help himself from imagining himself in the prince's place.

Darker desires indeed.

* * *

There were many rooms in Hogwarts that were transformed with the Serpent King's ascent to the throne. While the Slytherin dormitories were turned into the Adder's Lair, the keep of all magical documents; the school's infirmary had turned into the Slough of Venom, the home of all of the Serpent King's poisons, potions and elixirs. The bubbling of cauldrons and the hissing of flames had long since replaced the sounds of a bustling nurse, and now those who occupied the beds were used for experiments. Now the curtains had been drawn shut, save for a few windows that were kept open to expose potions to moonlight. The only light came from said moon and the levitating candles that kept the workbench lit enough for the reclusive potion's master to work.

But now, the smoky chamber had a very special visitor that evening, very out of place among the cauldrons and vials.

"Is it almost ready?" The Taipan asked, watching the pallid man before him stir the iron cauldron.

Severus Snape didn't look up from the potion, which was billowing black smoke onto the floor, "Of course, you're majesty." He drawled, adding a vial of some obscure ingredient that the Taipan didn't care to remember, "Do you have the blood?" he asked.

The prince smirked, "Don't ask stupid questions." He said calmly, reaching his hand into his shirt to draw out the needle, covered in dried blood, "It was child's play…and oh so enjoyable."

If the potion's master had any questions, he didn't ask them, he merely took the needle, carefully scraping the blood into the cauldron.

The prince watched impatiently. He didn't like waiting for things he wanted, but he was willing to wait for the potion to finish. After all, if it did what it was supposed to do…

The simmering potion stopped smoking, turning a murky green color. Snape began to stir counterclockwise, "Tell me when it is the correct color, your majesty." He asked, trying not to speak any more than he needed to.

The Taipan watched with a bored expression as the murky green began to fade lighter then burn brighter. A smirk tugged on his lips as the potion reached that brilliant _Aveda_ green that he so lusted for.

"Stop." He commanded, stepping towards the cauldron.

The bubbling of the potion had slowly to a lazy simmer as Snape ladled a goblet full of the new potion.

The prince was almost beside himself with glee, "Do I take it now?" he asked, even if it was just for formalities sake.

The recluse nodded, "While it is still hot, my prince." He told him, bowing.

With a sadistic grin, the Taipan brought the goblet to his lips, drinking the burning liquid eagerly. It was only when there was nothing left to drink did the blonde set the goblet down, wiping his lips with a handkerchief as he caught his breath.

"…How long?"

The other man raised an eyebrow, "How long, sir?"

"Did I stutter?" The prince looked at the man, his eyes narrowed, "How long before it takes effect?"

Snape said nothing, merely staring at the blonde. This did nothing to improve the Taipan's mood, "Are you stupid or do I have to drag the answer out of you? There is a new curse that I've been dying to test…"

"My lord, it's already finished." The potion's master commented quickly.

The prince blinked, "It has?"

"Indeed, your highness." The pale man pointed to a dusty mirror across the room and in an instant the prince was before it, wiping away the grime. There was his reflection, in all his glory: the same ethereal blonde hair, alabaster skin, flawless clothes…

But his eyes. The prince could see that his right eye was the same as ever, the same elegant and striking silver…but the left was now the same _Aveda_ green as the nameless beauty.

"It worked…" The blonde grinned.

Snape nodded, "He's yours to control now." He said simply, returning to his work.

The prince stared at his reflection, laughing hysterically to himself as he already plotted. _'As I have dined on your blood, nameless, so I will soon devour you,' _He thought to himself, '_My will is now your reality, you will think nothing but of me, you will not eat or drink unless it is from my hand, you will not sleep unless it is in my bed. My desires are now your needs, come to me, only I will give you what you desire.'_

* * *

Draco was a relatively light sleeper, which made for hard nights getting to sleep when he had to share a room. While with the Order, Draco had been forced to share a room with the older men so they could keep an eye on him; but seeing as those men had decided to sleep besides their wives (or sweetheart in the case of his cousin and the werewolf) by the fireplace, the blonde found himself alone in the small room.

But Draco still woke when he heard the door open and shut, even if he had no intention of opening his eyes. It was probably just one of the men coming in to grab a blanket for their wife.

So the blonde was surprised when he felt a weight beside him in the bed. Draco slowly opened his eyes, only to see darkness. He mentally chastised himself for forgetting that it was night and that it was normally dark at such time. His mind was still muddled from sleep when a voice whispered in his ear, "I couldn't stop thinking of you."

_Harry?_ Draco tried to think of a more reasonable explanation, but he could feel Harry's arm wrap around his middle, "I just couldn't bear to contain myself any longer."

Before Draco could ask what in Merlin's name Harry was talking about, he felt a pair of warm lips kiss his jaw. All thoughts left the blonde as Harry kissed down his jaw and over his cheekbones, and Draco only remembered to breathe when Harry moved to straddle his waist because he had gasped.

Harry kissed the corners of Draco's lips, "May I kiss you?" he asked breathily, his hands already tangled in the confused blonde's hair.

Dumbly, Draco nodded. Hell, if this was a dream, it was a damn good one.

But Harry, Draco noted, did not have a lot of experience kissing. Not that he minded, it gave him the opportunity to take the lead in the kiss, bitting Harry's lip before remembering that he was recovering from a bloody lip and turning his attention to Harry's tongue.

When the two broke away for air, Harry whispered in his ear, "_I think of nothing but you…_"

It was an odd thing to say after a first kiss, Draco admitted, but there were worse things he could have said. Of course, Draco didn't concern himself with Harry's bedroom voice so much as his actions, pulling the raven haired man into another slow kiss, savoring the moment for when he woke up and Harry was gone.

Harry had taken to unbuttoning Draco's shirt, revealing several light scars from their encounter 6th years, and Harry traced a warm finger over each one, making Draco shiver under his touch. He didn't think anyone else knew those scars were there besides Harry, and he _certainly_ didn't mind Harry touching them.

"Are you always this warm?" Draco asked, playing with Harry's hair.

Harry chuckled, laying on Draco's chest, "Only when I'm hot for you…" he murmured, nipping and sucking at the tender flesh on Draco's neck.

'_Best dream ever.'_ Draco decided, closing his eyes and letting Harry attack his neck, "Harry…" he murmured softly.

Harry sighed contently, "Your majesty…"

Draco's blood ran cold.

_What had Harry called him?_

Draco's loving mood vanished as he sat up abruptly; ignoring the fact that Harry had been nearly laying on top of him. "What did you call me?" he asked slowly.

Harry merely crawled back onto Draco's lap, "Your majesty, my prince," he kissed Draco slowly, "my everything…"

'_Damn…'_ There was a time that Draco would have gotten off on that alone, but now it seemed he had developed a conscience. "_Accio candle." _He muttered, trying to ignore the fact that Harry was still desperately trying to get his attention.

By the time Draco had lit the candle, Harry was looking up at him expectantly.

"Of course…" The blonde sighed, looking at Harry's eyes. _Of course _Harry would be in a mind altered state to come into his room and ravish him. Draco couldn't help but look at Harry's right eye, which was now the same steely grey as his own. Draco knew he should alert the Order immediately to Harry's condition so that they could cure him.

…Or he could just pretend he hadn't heard the slip and continue…Draco looked back at Harry, who was tracing lazy circles on his chest.

Draco cursed to himself, knowing he'd probably given the Order another reason to hate him as he placed his hands on Harry's head.

Harry looked up at him and smiled innocently. The blonde smirked in return.

"_Stupefy."_

* * *

"What do you think is wrong with him?" James asked as Lily checked her son's vital signs.

Draco sighed as he watched the Order fuss and fret over Harry's unconscious body in his bed. When Draco had stunned Harry, he had done so in the hopes that someone would know immediately what was wrong with him and cure him sooner rather than stand and stare at him.

"So you're saying that he thought you were the Taipan?" Granger asked, hugging her robe tightly around herself.

The blonde rolled his eyes, "No, I just get my jollies from being called 'your majesty'." He sighed, "Yes, from what I gathered, he thinks I'm my darker self."

Both James and Lily looked at each other with concern, "I don't understand how this could have happened…or even what happened."

"Look at Harry's eyes," Draco suggested, bringing over a candle and pulling back Harry's eyelid for the Order to see Harry's grey eye.

Lily furrowed her brow, "This is strong magic…whether it's a spell or a potion, they would have needed Harry's blood somehow."

It was then that Draco remembered the way his darker self was biting and tearing Harry's lip in the tomb, "They do…" he realized, "When the Taipan attacked Harry, he bit his lip hard enough to make it bleed…"

The ginger haired woman carefully pulled back Harry's lip to get a better look at the wound.

It was only when she frowned that her husband decided to ask, "What is it?"

"Well, I see the bite wound here," she said, pointing to the slowly healing wound, "But here's another wound that doesn't look like teeth at all." She pointed to a small open wound; Draco would have missed it if he had been the one examining Harry.

"What could it be from?" Granger asked, looking at the small pinprick of blood in Harry's mouth.

Pinprick…

"It's a needle…" Draco murmured, "Unless my other self has developed vampire teeth," he paused, just in case the Order decided to drop another bombshell on him. When they didn't, he continued, "He must have bit Harry that hard on purpose…he was planning it the whole time…"

"Which means the Serpent King isn't a complete idiot." James muttered, crossing his arms, "He probably got his greasy haired lackey to make a poison with Harry's blood."

Draco assumed that they were referring to Serverus Snape, there weren't too many men with greasy hair and were almost always associated with potions. But of course, he would say nothing, there was no point in doing so.

"How do we cure him?" Draco asked, looking down at Harry. As much as he had enjoyed their time together, he preferred a willing partner than a lovesick stunned one.

Lily shook her head, "If this is a poison, the only person who would know how to reverse it would be Snape, and I doubt he would tell one of us."

Draco was already planning his own idea for Harry's return when he noticed Granger staring at him, "Did you notice something you like, Granger?"

The bushy haired witch shook her head, "Draco…_your eyes…"_

Confused at her remark, Draco could only wait for her to pull a mirror from her robe pocket and show it to him.

Draco's heart stopped when he noticed that he was no better off than Harry; with his left eye a _very_ familiar bright green.

* * *

_TADA! Well, how was that for slash? I realized that the relationship is a bit of a slow brewer, and I'll apologize now, but Harry and Draco probably won't 'get together' (as in a relationship, not sex people) until near the end, possibly before the climax._

_Whoops? But lets see...question, and I know I've asked this before: Who should Neville be with? (I have this one scene in mind and I want as many pairings as possible). Please don't say Luna, because she, like Ginny, will not be making appearances in this particular fanfic._

_Teehee!_

_Until next time!_

_slavetothepen_

_p.s.: I haven't said this lately, but REVIEWS ARE MY CRACK!_


	20. Chapter 20

_O_O Guys...This is Chapter 20. After this, you all will have to scroll down on the chapter select menu...and after this chapter posts, I will have 1,000 reviews. Holy f***._

_Complete awe and wonder aside, I have a couple things to address before we continue with the story._

_First being the contest results (if you just thought 'what contest?' then ignore this particular note). I only had two entries, which is two more than I was expecting. And after grading them both on my grading sheet and tallying points, it actually came down to a single point declaring the winner. So the winner of the 10,000 word oneshot is **smileyfox5150**__ for their story_ The Wrong Ron,_ followed closely by **Smithback**'s story _QUEST _(This particular story also has a Spanish translation because **Smithback **__is a native Spanish speaker). Because the contest was so close, I'm offering a runner up prize of a 1,000 word one shot. Congrats to both writers and I suggest you all check out their stories!_

___Moving on, the poll is now closed and the majority of you said that it really didn't matter about the mistake and that it wasn't that big of a deal. [shrugs] mmk then!_

___I got a couple complaints about my typo's/grammer/ect. This I understand, because even as I am writing this, it is 3 in the morning. I do not have a beta and as far as mistakes go, if I don't see them as I'm typing, chances are I'll never see them. Sorry if it's too distracting, but I like to think that I'm doing an ok job._

___...Crap, what else did I have to say? Oh well, here's the chapter!_

* * *

"Draco, stop screaming." Granger said calmly, rubbing her temples.

Draco was desperately trying to catch his breath as he stared at his reflection, at the bright green eye that was now in place of his usual grey one. "What does it mean?" He asked, his voice hoarse from…well, screaming.

"If we knew that, we wouldn't need you to get the information, now would we?" James Potter stated, crossing his arms, "Harry will probably stay like this until we find an antidote to whatever Snape made."

He knew that much was true, Draco wasn't an idiot. If the performance from the Taipan in the Malfoy crypt was anything to go by, he would most likely keep Harry in this frenzied, love-struck state until he grew bored of him. And Draco knew that if that happened, Harry would most likely be dead by then.

"We need to plan how to get Draco in and how to get him out without him getting caught." Lily Potter said softly, "They'll be more suspicious than ever after our last break in."

"What happened last time you broke in?" Longbottom asked, staring at Harry's unconscious body.

The Potter woman sighed, "We had Nymphadora disguise herself as the Taipan in order to get access to the book we needed to summon Harry. She was almost caught after she ran into the real Taipan."

Draco felt his heart tighten, "And how do I know that won't happen to me?"

"We don't."

'_Well…that's comforting isn't it?'_ Draco mused.

James took one last look at Harry before going to the door, "Come on, we have planning to do." He said calmly, his one hazel eye not betraying any emotion as he led the others down to where they could plan in peace.

Soon it was just Draco and Harry in the room, with Harry still unconscious on Draco's bed and Draco standing over him. The blonde sighed deeply before sitting next to Harry on the bed, watching his dark haired friend. If Draco thought hard enough, he could pretend that Harry was merely asleep in his bed…instead of cursed.

"Just my luck," Draco muttered to himself, "The first time you kiss me, and it happens to be when you think I'm my evil twin…"

Harry's chest moved up and down slowly as he breathed, and Draco contented himself to watch the gentle movement. It was calming to know that even the adrenalin-fueled, unstoppable Harry Potter was able to be so serene.

Draco wasn't sure when he began to run his fingers through Harry's hair; only that he liked the sensation.

"I…I almost didn't stop, you know." Draco admitted quietly. "I almost didn't stop you after you called me '_your majesty'_…I wanted so badly to pretend I didn't hear you, to just…keep you to myself…" Why he was confessing his sins to an unresponsive Harry, Draco wasn't sure, but he felt like he had to be honest to at least one person.

The blonde paused in his careful stroking of Harry's hair to look at the sleeping face. Harry really did look handsome without his glasses, but he had to admit that the wire framed glasses gave Harry a youthful appearance. Draco found that he was terribly fond of how soft the jet black locks on Harry's head were, and found the urge to tousle them.

"I'm turning into a bloody Hufflepuff." He muttered, with none of his normal venom, "And here I am, preparing to do something incredibly Gryffindor…if it was anyone else Harry, I would have thought twice about risking my neck. But I always seem to lose common sense when you're involved…always you Harry."

With a sigh, Draco stood, "I better get downstairs with the others, I have to go risk my neck for you again…" he paused, looking down at Harry for a moment. There was no one around, they were all downstairs planning, and Harry wasn't about to tell anyone anything.

Draco made his decision, slowly leaning down and kissing Harry. Even unconscious, Harry had a warmth that Draco never felt before, and the blonde was tempted to stay there forever. But he knew that Harry needed his help and, after a chaste kiss, Draco stood up again.

"Sorry…" he whispered, "I'm not sure I'm going to make it back, so I thought I'd enjoy it while it lasts." Draco admitted to both himself and to Harry, "Damn you for making me love you, Harry…"

Draco never heard the quiet gasp or the shuffling of feet that raced from outside the door.

* * *

The Order was already in full planning mode when Draco joined them downstairs. He could see Lily drawing up several plans while her husband was pointing out every possible flaw so that they could prepare for the worst.

Perhaps Draco should have found it odd that he referred to Harry's parents by their first names while Weasley and Granger were still…well, Weasley and Grangers.

'_Old habits die hard._' Draco thought, watching the Order plan his break in. It was only then that Draco noticed that the redhead and his girlfriend were nowhere to be seen.

"Where are…Ron and Hermione?" Draco asked, the names sounding foreign on his tongue.

James looked over at him, "Ron said that there was something among Harry's things that could help, so he and Hermione are looking for it." He said calmly, his hand on his wife's shoulder.

Of course the blonde could only nod, even if he had no idea what the two could be looking for. Instead he casually watched the various Order members as they watched and occasionally added words to the conversation. Longbottom was watching the adult quietly, staying out of their way for the most part.

Draco remembered when there was a time he would have mocked Longbottom for being so quiet, but even Longbottom had grown up to be ridiculously brave like the rest of them.

He could hear Weasley and his girlfriend come back downstairs, murmuring about something or other.

"I'm just glad that Harry was carrying this when he was summoned," Weasley admitted, walking into the room, "Leave it to Harry to be conveniently carrying things that aid us in the battle against evil."

"It does make things easier doesn't it?" Granger,_ damnit, _Hermione replied.

"What makes things easier?" Draco couldn't help but ask, looking at what Wea-_Ron_ was carrying. It didn't look like much, just a piece of spare parchment…

Ron lifted up the paper to show the Order, "Harry's map. He had it with him when he was summoned." He said calmly before laying it on the table, "It should have all the passage ways into Hog- I mean Castle Slytherin labeled."

Draco stared at the blank piece of paper. Maybe it was having one of Harry's eyes that made his eyesight off, but that had to be the worst map in history.

"Is…is that what I think it is?" Sirius asked quietly, staring at the 'map'. Draco supposed that this was some sort of Gryffindor inside information.

'_And here I thought Ravenclaws were the only ones to get excited over a blank piece of parchment…'_ Draco mused, watching Ron.

The redhead nodded, pointing to the parchment with his wand and muttering, "_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."_

It would be later that Draco would tell himself to stop being surprised by Gryffindor antics, but at that moment, the blonde couldn't keep his eyes from widening as ink began to spread across the parchment until an elaborate map was on display for all of them.

"Bloody hell James…he really is your son…" Remus muttered.

Draco raised an eyebrow, hoping that someone would clarify things just a tad for him.

Of course, Hermione didn't disappoint, "This is a complete map of Hogwarts, including the passageways and their passwords."

"It also shows everyone in the castle," Ron added.

Sirius just stared at the map, murmuring to himself "…every minute of every day."

"Well, excluding two rooms in particular," Hermione waved off any questions, "Harry inherited this more or less…from his dad," she motioned to the one eyed man, "Point being, this is one of his most _precious_ possessions."

Draco got that message loud and clear: _Harry trusts you, and now we have to as well. Don't muck it up._ He nodded slowly, "Got it. So how am I getting in?"

* * *

'_I must be out of my mind!'_ Draco thought as he stepped out from behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy, clutching the piece of parchment. Well at least it was correct in saying that no one would be walking down that particular hallway. Now all of Harry's outlandish adventures were making a little more sense to Draco, with the Cloak of Invisibility and this map, Harry could probably get around better than most the ghosts.

But now Draco had to become the Taipan, no more sneaking around. With a slow gulp, Draco folded the map and tucked it behind the statue for his return visit when he needed to escape.

He was on his own now, and with one green eye, Draco was less than confidant.

It was unnerving to Draco just how easy it was to slip back into the familiar strut he had used to many times during his Hogwarts years, most notably his fifth year. And with each servant scurrying out of the way or Deatheater bowing to give him room, Draco could feel the old monster of pride clawing its way to the surface.

Draco had assumed that Snape would have made his home in the dungeons like he had during the Hogwarts days, so needless to say he was surprised to find that the dungeons were used for another purpose and that his old potions professor rarely left what used to be Hospital Wing.

"_It's called the Slough of Venom" Lily Potter had told him. _

Of course, Draco would keep his comments on the Serpent King's naming process to himself. He knew that Voldemort was the heir of Slytherin, but did _everything_ have to be snake themed? Even Gryffindors didn't use and abuse their mascot every which way they could.

As he neared the old Hospital, few and fewer torches were lit in the corridors. _'Most likely to recreate the feel of the dungeons….'_ Draco thought, but the thought did nothing to ease his uncertainties as he pushed open the doors to…a very dark room.

"Ah, your highness…" A slow drawl called out to him. Draco resisted the urge to squint, trying to keep up the act of a regal heir as he tried to locate the potions master in the dark.

"Don't make me come and find you like some disobedient child." Draco sneered, the harsh tone slipping from his lips all too easily, "Come into the light like normal humans, you bat."

There was a shift in the darkness, "Forgive me, your highness, I was merely tending to a new poison." Draco could now see Severus Snape, and it took all of his will power to keep from cringing.

"_He rarely leaves the Slough," James had warned him, "Food and water are always brought to him and new potions are always taken by servants. He only leaves on the Serpent King's request…which is rare."_

Draco could see that there was no evidence that light had touched his old professor's skin in years, if not _decades_. The skin was paper thing, giving Draco perfect view of the various veins beneath the surface and the dark circles under his black, souless eyes. All the time spent over the fumes of potions and poisons weighed down the man's hair, causing it to grow in greasy tendrils and Snapes self neglect had worn on his haggard hands and cracked lips.

It was sickening.

"What brings you to my humble workshop, my prince?" Snape asked slowly, bowing in what Draco supposed was meant to be a gesture of welcome, but it merely looked more twisted and depraved than the man doing the action.

Draco masked his fear with a sneer, "You know exactly why I am here, you greasy little twit."

The potions master nodded, "Are you unsatisfied with the potion I provided to you?"

"It hasn't done anything!" Draco took a shot in the dark. For all he knew, the potion was just supposed to turn Harry into a love sick fool and his eye turning green was…was…hell, _he_ couldn't even think of a reasonable suggestion.

The sickly man turned his attention to Draco, and to the blonde's horror, his eye. At first, he thought the whole plot was done for: after all, everyone knew that Draco Malfoy had _two_ grey eyes, not one, and even if he did have different colored eyes, it certainly wouldn't be such a striking _green_.

"I see nothing wrong with the bond between you and the rebel weapon." Snape drawled. "Unless it was not his blood you gave to me."

Draco flashed back to the night at the crypt and the way the Taipan was savagely attacking Harry… "Are you questioning my competence?" He narrowed his eyes, "Of _course_ it was his blood I gave to you."

"Then there should be no trouble." The man's twisted and gnarled hands stirred some potion Draco didn't bother noting, "You should be more than able to bend him to your desires now."

_Bend him to your desires_.

The image of Harry crawling onto Draco's lap surfaced in his mind, "_Your majesty, my prince,_ _my everything…_" Harry's voiced whispered in what was a loving voice at the time.

The words made him sick.

"But where is he?" Draco persisted, crossing his arms.

Snape barely looked up from his cauldron, "I highly doubt that the rebels will so willingly allow their last hope to walk to eagerly into your bed, your highness."

'_Oh, you would be surprised…'_ Draco thought to himself. But there was no time to waste; he needed to know the cure, "What if the rebels are working on an antidote for him?"

This brought a laugh from the older man. At least, Draco thought it was supposed to be a laugh. It sounded more like a depraved heaving cackle, "_Antidote?_ As if I would make a potion so easily thwarted." He turned a crooked grin to Draco, "No…the only way that this blood bond can be broken would be if you were to release him from it." The greasy haired mess turned to his back to Draco as he rummaged around his workbench.

'_Well that shouldn't be too hard. Potion= Draco Malfoy controlling Harry Potter.'_ He gave a small sigh of relief, _'That explains my eye…I just have to wish him free. Now all I have to do is say "Harry, I want you-"'_

"_Incarcerous!"_ Draco hadn't even realized that Snape had pulled his wand out on him, let alone be able to react to the curse. The blonde fell to the dirty floor with a sickening _thud._

Snape slowly made his way over to where Draco lay on the floor, "I'm surprised, you rebels almost had me convinced." He drawled slowly, his wand pointed between Draco's eyes, "The physical details and mannerisms were nearly flawless." There was a wheezing cough that followed the man's speech, and Draco was helpless to listen, "But why would the prince's memories include visions of himself?"

It took Draco a heartbeat before he understood. _Legilimency__._ How could Draco not have remembered that detail of his former Head of House?

The greasy haired man smirked, "_Stupefy._"

* * *

Draco needed him.

His prince needed him.

He needed to go to his blonde. He needed to wake up, he needed to find his blonde, his Draco, his prince.

Harry's eyes snapped open despite the fact he had been stunned.

'_I can't be stunned, I need to be awake, I need to be awake to find his majesty, his majesty needs me, I need my prince, I need my Draco.'_

The green-eyed man didn't bother reaching for his glasses. How could he think of such a selfish thing as seeing when his prince was waiting for him?

Oh, he hoped that the prince wouldn't be too upset; Harry needed the prince so much…

"_Harry, I want you-"_

The voice echoed in his head louder than war drums. His Draco wanted him!

He needed to find his blonde, Harry decided, walking down the steps of the quiet house in a frantic determination.

Oh he missed the prince's blonde hair, how soft it was, how perfect and pure. Harry wanted to touch it, he wanted to feel it.

It was snowing outside; the snow was white like his Draco's skin. How did the prince get his skin so perfect and white? Maybe he would tell Harry if he was good.

His legs ached from walking in the snow, but how he ached for the touch of his perfect prince, his blonde.

Each step through the snow was one step closer to his beloved prince. Would the prince give him food and drink from his hand? Oh, Harry hoped so.

The castle was a beautiful sight, because Harry knew his prince was in there, waiting for him with open arms.

And Harry ran the rest of the way to Castle Slytherin.

* * *

Draco shivered as he began to regain consciousness. To be honest he was surprised that he wasn't dead, but he wasn't quite sure if he was better off dead or not.

"Ah, so glad of you to join us."

The blonde's heart froze at the voice, and oh, how he wished that he never have to hear it again. With great reluctance, Draco opened his eyes.

He was in chains from his hands to his feet and even to the floor. But it wasn't the chains that disturbed Draco. No, it was his company.

Voldemort was sitting on a throne, sipping wine from a goblet and beside him was the Taipan. His own evil twin. Even down to the newly developed green left eye…

Something in Draco desperately wanted to curl up and die in that moment rather than face these two alone. There was no Harry to save him this time…

"Needless to say, rebel scum," Voldemort continued, "We do not fall for the same trick twice." He laughed a cold, high laugh.

Draco, determined to at least die strong, struggled to stand on his own feet in the chains. The Serpent King smirked and waved his wand. In an instant, Draco was suspended by the shackles on his wrists; his feet unable to touch the floor, but the heavy chains dragging along the tile floor while the two before him laughed. Draco could already feel his petite wrists straining under the weight.

"Well now that we have your attention, I suppose the questioning can begin." The King waved his wand around a bit, causing the chains to swing and Draco's joints to protest in anguish. Anguish of the pain and anguish that he would soon be revealing everything to the enemy…

The Taipan had an evil grin on his face as he walked towards Draco, "You're good, even for a metamorphagus." He held up what appeared to be a corded collar, made of thousands of strands, "But this will be so much more fun, no boring Veritaserum…"

Draco's heart dropped as the prince tightened the collar around Draco's neck, "Just try and lie to us now, scum."

"Now now Draco, we're just beginning." Voldemort ran his hand over the Taipan's shoulder, "Do you want to ask the first question or should I?"

The Taipan settled comfortable on the arm of the throne, "Be my guest, my king." He cooed softly, leering at Draco.

Draco tried swallow, but found that the tight collar kept him from doing anything more than breathing.

Voldemort watched Draco as he hung in the air, "What is your name?"

Draco gasped for air as the collar began to tighten, acting as a ticking time bomb around his neck; either he answer with the truth or be strangled to death.

"_Draco…Luu-Lucius…Malfoy"_ Draco desperately gulped for air as the collar tightened.

The two on the throne were very intrigued indeed at Draco's answer, "Impossible, we all know that I am Draco Malfoy." The Taipan sneered, "If you are Draco Malfoy, than who am I?"

Again the collar tightened slowly on Draco's throat, "_The Taipan, heir to-o the Se-erpent K-king!"_

This did nothing to change the prince's menacing glare, but at least Draco could breathe.

The King raised an eyebrow, "And, how did the rebel's manage to have two Draco Malfoys in existence?"

Draco winced as the rough collar bit into his skin. He struggled to find a way out; he couldn't admit everything about Harry. They needed more time; there still had Horcruxes to find!

But Draco needed to breathe, "_The...same way t-tha-at...that the green-eyed one came here…"_

It was a miracle that the collar knew that Draco was telling the truth…somewhat. It was true that both he and Harry came from the same universe…the collar stopped tightening, but it didn't fully return to his lax position.

The Taipan perked up at the mention of Harry, "You know him?"

At once, Draco gasped for air, "_Yes!"_

"Is he as big of a threat to me as the public believes?" Voldemort took a sip of wine.

"_Your greates-t…threat…"_

The Taipan grinned, "All the better when he joins his majesty's ranks." He too took a drink from the Serpent King's cup as it was offered to him, "All we need to wait for is for him to submit to me."

Draco said nothing. No question was being asked, so there was no point in risking his neck just so that he could have a few snide comments.

His alter ego turned to his attention back to Draco, "Are the rebels keeping the green-eyed man from me?" He demanded.

"_Yes!"_ Draco quickly answered to keep his ability to breath.

"Why?" The other blonde persisted.

Draco was only able to get half a breath before being choked again, "_Beca-ause of th-e curse y-oou have on him!"_

The Taipan came off the throne and walked dangerously close to where Draco was hanging, "So the rebels know about the blood bond I've made with their weapon, let them know. Once I have that man in my clutches, he will bend to my whims." Draco learned as much from his encounter with Snape, "Whatever those rebels are doing, it will not work for long!"

"Now, Draco. There's no need for theatrics." Voldemort looked like he was trying to grin with that lipless mouth of his, "But honestly, what hope do the rebels have of freeing their little corpse weapon?"

Draco choked on his own breath, forced air out his lungs to form words, "…_me…"_

"You?" The prince laughed in his face, his breath reeking of wine, "And what can you possibly have that can defeat _me?_"

"_I _am_ you."_ Draco wheezed, "_You demand for the green-eyed man went unanswered, didn't it?"_

"I'm asking the questions here!" The Taipan's face was twisted in rage, "Explain yourself!"

Draco stubbornly stayed silent.

"What do you mean by your previous statement?" Voldemort asked calmly, causing the collar to tighten.

"_Last night…"_ Draco took a shuddering gasp, _"the man was with _me,_ ca-lling me his prince…his eve-rything…he sle-pt in _my_ bed…"_

At this, an enraged scream came from the Taipan as the prince's pale hands closed around Draco's throat, hoping to finish what the collar started. Draco was fighting the battle for air, and he knew it wouldn't be much longer before he would be unconscious, if not dead…

The sound of the massive doors opening interrupted the Taipan's attempted murder of Draco. Draco for one was thankful for the reprieve…at least until he saw that it was his own father opening the doors.

'_No'_, Draco chastised himself, _'That man is Lucius Malfoy, not my father.'_

"Lucius, I'm surprised." Voldemort said calmly, "You usually don't enter into rooms unannounced and uninvited. I pray that you have good new that will placate the recent anger your son and I are experiencing."

Lucius nodded, "Your majesty, the rebel weapon…we've got him."

Draco's heart stopped as his eyes went wide. No, they couldn't have Harry, Harry should be back with the rest of the Order. What the hell was the Order doing that let Harry get away so easily?

The Taipan, on the other hand, grinned, "Looks like I'll be having the final laugh now." He smirked at Draco before turning to his father, "Have the weapon sent to my room. I want him…comfortable…by the time I arrive."

It was sickening to Draco to see a father bend to his son's every demand, and even more sickening that is was himself and his father (to some degree).

"It would appear that you have a guest to entertain, Draco." Voldemort smirked, "It would be rude to keep him waiting."

The prince's mouth twisted into a toothy smirk that Draco recognized as a smile, "I'll let you have all the fun with this one then, shall I?"

With little more than a final jab to the ribs, the Taipan left Draco hanging by his weak wrists, gasping for air, in front of the Serpent King, Lord Voldemort.

* * *

_Oh snap! I haven't left you guys with a cliffhanger that big since the "James' disembodied head" bit in chapter 3! And before you freak, I already know what's going to happen._

_And yes, that is a big improvement on usual chapters, which usually consist of an all day Saturday cram writing session by slave, who...well slaves all day to finish a chapter._

_And did you guys find the 'Harry out of his mind for Draco/Taipan' bit confusing? If so, then you're not alone. I felt like I had written a poem for a high school English class after I typed that segment._

_Teehee!_

_Alright, question: Who do you think spied on Draco kissing Harry?_

_What? Don't tell me you forgot about that bit _waaaay_ at the begining of the chapter? Oh well, it's an excuse to read it _AGAIN!

_Or not, not is cool too._

_slave is abnormally tired, so once again guys, until next time_

_slavetothepen_

_ps: slave 3 reveiws=crack_


	21. Chapter 21

_Whoops! Sorry I'm a tad late again. I was writing this yesterday and I started getting really lethargic around 2am. I knew if I tried to rush the chapter to get it up, it wouldn't be as good, so I postponed finishing it until I was really geared to finish it. And I think the chapter turned out better (and longer) because of it._

_Also, I have posted a new poll: _Who do you think should die?_ Now I'm not so cruel as to force you to choose someone to die, so I did have an option saying 'Don't kill anyone B!tch'. So far, that option is winning, but Dumbledore is close behind and Sirius and Neville tied for third._

_Well here it is, chapter 21!_

* * *

Draco tried to keep his heart from pounding too loud; he tried to keep his breathing from sounding so desperate. But in that moment when the Taipan walked out of the Great Hall, Draco never felt so alone or so scared in his entire life. He didn't hear the massive doors shut, but he could hear the footsteps fading, reminding Draco of his situation.

"Well, I suppose it's just the two of us now, isn't it?" Voldemort mused, sending a chill down Draco's spine as the Serpent King stood from his throne. The king still had his wand pointed at Draco, levitating his shackles so he was hanging from his wrists while his ankles were being pulled on by the shackles chained to the floor.

Draco didn't want to look up; he didn't want to face Voldemort alone, even if he knew he didn't have much of a choice. He could feel the muscles of his arms stretch and pull in an agonizingly slow torture.

"Now what to do with you…" Draco could see the bony hand of the Serpent King in his line of vision, despite the fact Draco had been careful to keep his gaze to the floor. Voldemort pressed the tip of his wand to Draco's chest. "What a fine replica…"

A breath barely escaped Draco's throat as the wand traveled down the length of Draco's shirt, ripping it as it went. It wasn't long before Draco was shirtless before the madman.

"Perhaps not a perfect replica then." Voldemort smirked and, to Draco's horror, traced the silvery scars he had received when he was 16.

'_No…'_ Draco thought, unable to fight the shudder that wracked his body. No one was supposed to know about those scars except Harry, he didn't want anyone else to see those scars…

"Now how do you suppose you got these?" Voldemort looked up at Draco, who began gagging as the collar around his neck tightened painfully.

"_Sec…sectum…Sectumse-empra-a…"_ Draco wheezed, tears welling in the corner of his eyes. He desperately willed them not to fall, not in front of this monster…

"Ah, so there are more who have survived this curse…" Voldemort circled Draco lazily, watching as the blonde would occasionally sway from the dangling shackles, "And…who cursed you?"

Draco could suddenly feel a warm trickle down his neck and he realized that not only was he being strangled, he was bleeding, "_The ma-an i-in the…p-prince's room…"_ Draco felt his heart crash to the floor as he accepted that Harry was, in fact, prey to the Taipan.

"He does good curse work, I'll admit." Now the Serpent King looked at Draco with his blood red eyes, "But enough of this nameless corpse-warrior business. I suppose if those rebels had the sense to name you, they will have named out green eyed friend."

Of course, Draco knew not to say anything if he didn't have to. He might have failed Harry, but at least he could keep his mouth shut.

"What is his name?"

With all the will in his body, Draco clenched his jaw shut, even as the collar crushed against his windpipe. _'So this is it?'_ he thought sadly, '_To take my last breaths in front of this monster?'_

But Voldemort would have none of it, "_Imperio!"_

Draco could feel his will begin to crumble as he heard the command echo in his head, '_Tell me his name…'_

'_No.'_

'_You will tell me his name.'_

'…_no…'_

'_TELL ME HIS NAME!'_

"_HARRY!"_ It was only when Draco heard that single word echoing off the walls of what used to be the Great Hall and felt the collar loosen around his neck that he realized he had shouted the name aloud. And now, he had betrayed Harry.

"Now that wasn't so hard," The Serpent King chuckled, "What a common name for such a masterpiece. Now…" his lipless mouth curled into a smirk, "What importance is Harry to the rebels in this 'master plan' they seem to have?"

Draco clenched his fists as the collar tightened once more, "_He'll…he'll be the one to-o destroy you-u." _He tried to sound brave, but Draco knew that he wasn't fooling anyone, that it would only be a matter of time before he started begging for his life.

"Destroy me?" The massive room was filled with the sounds of the Serpent King's cold, high pitched laughter, "What makes you and all those pitiful rebels think that he can possibly defeat me?"

This time, Draco didn't hesitate answering, "_He already has."_

The laughter immediately stopped, "You lie." Voldemort sneered, ignoring the fact that Draco was wearing a collar cursed to make him tell the truth.

When Draco didn't response, the red eyes of the Serpent King narrowed. "_Curcio!"_

It was amazing how, despite the fact that Draco was deprived for air, that he could scream as loud as he did. It never did matter how many times he had suffered the agonizing twisting and pulling and breaking and stabbing before, there was no becoming numb to the torture. It was only after the curse had been lifted that Draco heard a sickening _pop_; his wrists had finally snapped under the strain of Draco's body.

There was a dark chuckle as Voldemort's wand tapped Draco's bare chest, "You have the most _delightful_ screams, rebel. I could listen to them all night." Draco could feel the cold breath of the man before him, "I think I just might."

Draco was expecting the next curse, but that didn't mean that he could have done anything to prepare for it. As he screamed, he could feel the lack of air in his lungs straining on his mind and he could feel the searing pain in his wrists was wearing on his mind. But despite all the pain he was feeling in that moment, despite the fact that he knew he could very well die in that very spot, it was Harry's fate that Draco dreaded.

'_I'm sorry Harry…' _Draco thought, his eyes screwed shut in agony, _'you didn't deserve this…you don't deserve any of what life has thrown at you, and yet you're a better person than anyone else…I'm sorry things had to end this way, me being tortured to death while you are probably being tortured by a crazed version of myself." _Another scream ripped through Draco's hoarse throat, '_I never got to tell you that I loved you, but that's ok. If you never loved me in return, that's alright. If my fate is to die here, then so be it. But please Harry,'_ The tears that Draco had been holding at bay finally streamed down his cheeks, _'don't let them beat you…don't let them win…you're supposed to be free, you're supposed to be that hero that everyone adores…' _Draco could feel himself getting light headed, '_please Harry…'_

_

* * *

_

The screams had stopped, and the blonde head of hair hung limp from his shoulders, much like how the rest of his body hung from the levitated shackles.

The Serpent King noted that perhaps it would have been better to remove the restrictive collar before trying to make the man scream, but what was done was done. With a flick of his wand, Voldemort watched as the body fell with a clattering _thud_, the chains pooled around the rebel's body so nicely.

"Such a waste." He tisked, walking past the broken body of the Draco replica, "I could have put him to _such_ good use…"

Of course, such wicked thoughts were replaced by the thoughts of what to do with the green-eyed man, _Harry_. The rebel had said that Harry could destroy him; but now he was in the prince's bedroom. Still…

'_Perhaps after he destroys all the rebels…'_ He mused, walking down the hallway to his own chambers, to Nagini, '_After the rebels are gone, then I will kill him.'_

No need for unneeded risks, now was there?

"Yes…after sounds quite nice." He chuckled darkly, shutting the doors to his chambers tightly behind him.

* * *

'_Please Harry…'_

Harry's green eyes snapped open, covered in a cold sweat. Oh, he had just had the most wretched nightmare; he hadn't had one so bad since he was 15, and all he wanted was a piece of chocolate and maybe some Firewhiskey.

It was only when Harry managed to focus his eyes that he noticed he was not in his room at the Order headquarters. Granted, Harry's eyesight wasn't brilliant without his glasses, but he could tell that this was not the same dark room he was used to. This wasn't even his bed, he noted with a shiver of trepidation.

But Harry couldn't get up to investigate, he couldn't even reach to try and find his glasses. With a sickening jolt, he realized that he was tied to the bed, though _whose_ bed it was remained to be seen.

Harry's dread was beginning to rise, things certainly didn't look good at all. He tried to squint and get better detail of his prison. It was only then that Harry felt another shiver that nothing to do with foreboding.

'_Why in Merlin's name am I naked?'_ He thought, squirming in humiliation and desperation to free himself. It didn't take Harry long to realize that there was only one person that he knew of that would tie him to a bed, but the realization did nothing to ease Harry's fears; if anything, he struggled harder.

"Look how beautiful you look."

Harry knew that voice all too well, and now he desperately wished he at least had some pants on. Of course, he couldn't see the exact details of the Taipan, but he could see his body standing beside the bed, his head looking him up and down. The shiver that Harry felt earlier was replaced by the desperate urge to cringe.

He could feel the plush bed sink under the weight of the prince as he crawled onto the massive bed, "We're going to have so much fun…" he murmured, making Harry remember the night at the Malfoy crypt and decide that he did _not_ like the prince's definition of 'fun'.

"I've brought everything we need." The pale prince reassured him, reaching over Harry to grab something. Harry was able to look over and see a side table with several things on it, but Harry could only make out shapes, not definitions.

The prince was holding something in his hands as he leaned in towards Harry, pressing something against his lips. Harry would not let the prince savagely rape his mouth again, clamping his mouth shut.

"Open up, you stubborn git."

Surprised to hear the Taipan when he was supposed to be trying to kiss him, Harry's jaw went lax enough for the prince to push whatever he was holding past Harry's lips.

After a moment, Harry realized that it had been a strawberry; this new information only served to confuse him more. Insane, obsessive princes don't feed people strawberries; of this, Harry was sure.

"I have a surprise for you." The prince cooed, snapping his fingers. Harry could hear the distinctive _pop_ of a house elf, but he could also see that the elf was leading someone else; Harry couldn't see who exactly, but he could see a head of dark hair and darker skin on what he assumed was a man.

The prince drew his wand, "Watch," he said, apparently forgetting that Harry wasn't exactly in the best state to watch anything. "_Sectumsempra!"_

Harry tried not to gag as the man began to bleed profusely, falling to his knees as the gashes on his body weakened him.

"Get him out of here." The Taipan said to the elf, who vanished before Harry decided to regurgitate his strawberry, "I was practicing, just for you." He cooed softly, kissing Harry's neck.

This was more like the Taipan that Harry was familiar with, not that he preferred an insane Draco Malfoy. He was quite content with the nicer one. Harry bit his lip as the prince straddled Harry's waist, his hands roaming over his chest.

"It was good, wasn't it?" He murmured into Harry's jugular, "It wasn't easy, but I learned how to do it…Let's celebrate." He sat up slowly, sitting on Harry's stomach, and reached for what appeared to be a bottle of…something. It was only when Harry saw the dark color in the glass that the prince was pouring that Harry decided that it was most likely wine.

"To the Dark Arts," The prince murmured, taking a sip of the wine before bringing the glass to Harry's lips.

Unfortunately, lying on one's back did not make for the best position to drink and Harry began to choke and sputter when the Taipan poured the wine into his mouth.

"Oh you messy man you…" A smirk crossed the blonde's mouth as he leaned in, licking the wine that had spilled out the sides of Harry's mouth and down his neck. "I'll just have to clean you up." Harry stiffened as the prince ran his tongue across his lips before kissing him slowly.

It was different than in the crypt, Harry noted; the prince wasn't as desperate or impatient. He seemed like he was enjoying himself more. Not that it made any difference to Harry, it wasn't as if he was enjoying being kissed by Draco's evil twin, he didn't enjoy being tied to the bed and he _certainly_ didn't enjoy being naked at the moment.

Of course, the Taipan wasn't noticing any of Harry's discomfort, as he pushed his tongue into Harry's mouth while his hands roamed up Harry's arms. It was now that Harry desperately wished that he wasn't tied to the bed…well there were a lot of things he wished for in that moment, but his hands would have been a good start.

The prince sighed against Harry's lips, "It would be so much more fun if you would play back with me." He murmured, sitting up and discarding his shirt. With another bored sigh, the blonde prince waved his wand. Harry was surprised that the ropes holding his hands vanished, and he couldn't help but wonder just how stupid the prince really was.

"Much better." Harry heard the prince chuckle before taking Harry's hands and placing them firmly on his backside. With little more than satisfied groan, the Taipan continued to kiss Harry.

Harry, being partially blind and fully confused, didn't move his hands while the prince kissed Harry deeply, but his eyes did wander to the table; more importantly, the glass wine bottle. If Harry was where he thought he was, the last thing he wanted to do would be curse the prince and alert everyone. But the wine bottle…

With one of his newly freed hands, Harry slowly reached over to the table, his other hand not moving from where the Taipan had placed it. He just needed a few more inches…

The prince began to raise his head from the kiss, and Harry feared that he would be caught and tied up again. So, in a moment of desperation, and maybe a small bit of stupidity, he held the prince tighter, bringing him back into another kiss. This was met with an excited moan from the prince and the urge to vomit from Harry.

"And to think I don't even know your name yet…" The Taipan whispered between kisses. Harry paid no mind to the prince's desperate muttering. He desperately looked over, his fingers just grazing the neck of the bottle….

_Crash_!

Harry sighed with relief as the blonde on top of him went limp, just like in the crypt, except that this time, Harry was covered with wine and shards of broken glass. Not that he had time to worry about such things; he needed to get out of there quickly. With adrenalin filled strength, Harry pushed the prince off of him before looking down at his ankles. He knew that he would never be able to untie the knots as blind as he was. But this time, Harry wasn't going to forget that he was, in fact, skilled in wandless magic.

"_Diffindo!"_ He muttered, watching the ropes fray as they were cut. Harry wasted no time in leaping off the bed and looking around for something to wear. He might be living a nightmare, in the middle of an enemy fortress and barely avoiding getting raped, but he would be damned if he was going to run around in the nude for Voldemort to catch him.

He wasn't quite sure what exactly he had grabbed from the prince's wardrobe to wear, but he didn't care. As long as he had trousers and a shirt, he would make due. With one last look at the unconscious prince, Harry furrowed his brow, "My name is Harry." He said before racing down the hallway.

It was a good thing that he had almost memorized the hallways of Hogwarts, or he would be utterly and completely lost in the dark. But it was only when he saw the massive doorway that he realized that he had managed to get to the Great Hall.

"What am I doing here?" He muttered to himself. The Great Hall wasn't anywhere near any of the secret passageways that he could use for his escape. '_Why would I be here?'_

But something caught his eye in the massive doorway. The open doors revealed a small patch of white on the dark stone floor. A patch of white connected to a very still body.

"Draco!" He realized, rushing into the Great Hall without another thought. The blonde was in bad shape; even he could see that in his partially blind state. There was a dark ring around his neck, which was most likely bleeding, and his wrists were hanging from odd angles.

"Come on Draco, wake up…" he muttered, shaking his shoulder roughly. The sharp rattle of chains caught Harry's ear as he turned to look at Draco's legs. He had been restrained just as Harry had been, only worse. It would take more than a Severing Charm to free the blonde. "_Reducto!_" The chains rattled, and looked battered, but they didn't break, "_Confringo!"_ Finally, the chains snapped, but there was an echoing crash throughout the Great Hall. He would need to work fast before someone woke up and found them.

"_Harry?"_ Harry looked up from his work on the chains to see Draco's eyes open slightly, his voice hoarse.

"It's me Draco, don't worry." Harry nodded, blasting another link of chain from Draco's leg, "I'm getting you out of here."

Draco just looked weakly at him, "_You shouldn't be here…you need to save yourself…"_

"I am." Harry said, carefully moving his arms to pick up the blonde, "You're coming with me."

"_But I'd just slow you down…" _ The sentence sounded forced to Harry, "_Just leave me…"_

Harry shook his head, "You know me better than that, I'd never leave you behind." With a small grunt, Harry lifted Draco into his arms.

Grey eyes looked up at him with burning curiosity. "_Why?"_

Green eyes met grey for a moment, "You know exactly why." He told Draco, turning to the doorway to run.

And his eyes widened greatly.

* * *

_Plip…plip…plip_

The Taipan walked with his teeth grit, his bare feet padding down the halls of the castle. He didn't care that he was shirtless, he didn't care that he was covered in the finest wine, he didn't care that there were shards of glass in his fine blonde hair or that his pure blood was mixing with the wine.

No.

What he cared about was the fact that _his_ toy had run off _again_. And just when things were starting to get really good too. He really didn't want to use love potions, but if that was all that worked on the corpse, then so be it.

A crash echoed through the halls, giving the prince a pretty good idea where his pretty was hiding. With rushed footsteps, the Taipan walked to the Great Hall, where he had been not even an hour ago.

And his eyes widened greatly.

The green-eyed man was kneeling over the rebel scum disguised as him, working on freeing him from the chains

"It's me Draco, don't worry." The necromancy marvel whispered with fondness to the doppelganger, "I'm getting you out of here."

The prince could barely hear his other self's hushed whisper, "_You shouldn't be here…you need to save yourself…"_

"I am." The dark haired man replied, taking the rebel Draco into his arms, "You're coming with me."

"_But I'd just slow you down…" _ It was sickening how tender the words sounded coming out of the prince's mouth, even if it was a fake prince, "_Just leave me…"_

The rebel warrior shook his head, adamant, "You know me better than that, I'd never leave you behind." With an effortless grace, he lifted the prince's twin into his arms like a bride across the threshold.

The beaten and bloodied rebel looked up at the corpse man in adoration. "_Why?" _ He murmured softly.

Their eyes met in a moment of intimacy, neither daring to look away, "You know exactly why."

A scream tore itself from the Taipan's throat, enraged by the injustice of it all. The necromancy warrior looked up at the prince, his weaker twin hanging onto the dark haired man for dear life.

"I asked you to join me; I could have given you everything you wanted and so much more..." The prince clenched his fists, ignoring the wine that was dripping down his face, "All you had to do was yield to me, surrender, become _mine_ and the world would have been at your feet..." Rage burned in his eyes, "And you chose _him?"_

The green eyed man said nothing, but the Taipan could see the smirk on his twin's face as he leaned his head on the warrior's shoulder.

"How DARE you take him from me!" The prince shouted, storming across the hall to finish what he started almost an hour ago. "I'll kill you!"

"Stop right there!" The Taipan stopped more out of surprise really, than because he was obeying the green-eyed man. The dark haired man had shifted his twin so that he could get an arm free, pointing his hand at the prince, "You want to see what magic I can do, you spoiled prince? Do you?"

The prince fought the urge to grin, with each dark spell, the green eyed man would fall closer and closer into the temptation of Darkness, "I eagerly await the day when you choose me instead of-"

"_Levicorpus!"_

The Taipan was certainly not expecting to be hoisted by his ankle, hovering upside down. Yet there he was, staring at the smirking image of the rebel's star soldier and his twin as the hurried by. "Don't you dare leave me like this! You come back he-"

"_Silencio!"_

Never, not once, had the prince _ever_ been silenced. He _always_ said what he wanted to say, when he wanted to say it. And in that moment as the green-eyed man ran off with his twin, the prince was silently screaming for blood.

He would kill his twin with his own bare hands if he had to.

* * *

Harry was having a hard time really running with Draco in his arms. Granted, the blonde didn't weigh a whole lot, but Harry would have preferred to have his hands free if need be. So when they were out of sight, Harry ducked into an alcove, "Sorry about this Draco, but I need you to climb onto my back." He said, setting Draco down before crouching down in front of him.

Draco more fell on Harry than climbed onto his back. Of course, when Harry saw the mangled wrists hanging onto Draco's arms, he remembered that the blonde couldn't do much holding onto anything.

"Just hug my neck, ok? I'm going to try and get us out of here quickly." Harry stood, making sure that Draco wouldn't fall off, "It's a good thing that you're a skinny blonde." He muttered.

"_Yes…could you imagine how much I would weigh if I were a brunette?"_ Draco whispered in his ear. Harry wished he could have laughed, but the fact that Draco Malfoy was making jokes meant that either he was delirious or they were doomed. But Harry didn't dwell too much on Draco's comment, he just started running.

It was only when Harry climbed up a floor that Draco spoke again, "_Smarmy…"_

That did it, Draco was delirious. "Draco, don't talk, you'll hurt yourself…" Harry muttered, panting from running with the added weight.

Draco didn't shut up, "_Gregory the Smarmy…"_

Harry stopped running, "Gregory the…you're right! There's a passage way out behind the statue!" He beamed, but then suddenly furrowed his brow, "How do you know about that passageway?"

A grotesque gagging sound was heard from Draco, his breath hissing in Harry's ear, "_Ma-ap..." _He whispered, causing his gagging to stop.

_Map?_ Harry opened his mouth to ask, but a sharp hiss from Draco made him think twice. Instead, Harry ran down the halls, trying to find the statue. "Draco, I need you to be my eyes for me. Tell me when you see the statue." He could feel the blonde's cheek rub against his own as he nodded slightly.

Harry was glad that it was the middle of the night, and that Deatheaters slept at the same times as everyone else, otherwise they might have run into trouble.

"_Harry…"_

"Do you see it Draco?" Harry asked, looking around the hallway.

Draco didn't respond, but something else did. "_Massster Draco isss with ssslimy rebel sssscum…Nagini will sssave massster Draco…"_

Harry's eyes widened as he turned to see Nagini slithering towards them both. He barely had time to lunge out of the way before she struck, both Harry and Draco sliding across the stone floor. Draco's body lay eerily still at the base of a suit of armor. Harry looked at Draco, then back at Nagini, who seemed more interested in killing Harry than Draco.

"_Ssstupid, dirty mudblood…"_

Harry grit his teeth, "_Watch who you are calling mudblood, sssnake."_

The snake paused in her approach, "_It ssspeaksss…it ssspeaksss with the tongue of my masssterss…"_

With a small sigh of relief, Harry tried to make his way over to Draco, hoping that Nagini would distracted long enough for them to leave, "_Mastersss? More than one?" _He asked despite himself.

"_Yesss, Massster and his little one, massster Draco…"_ She hissed, _"And now you…you hurt masster Draco…you mussst die."_

Harry could see out of the corner of his eye that Draco was reaching for something with his limp hand. It was only when Nagini was about to strike that he saw Draco knock the suit of armor's battle ax off its stand. From there it was like everything moved in slow motion, the ax falling in a graceful arc while Nagini struck straight forward, and Harry shut his eyes tightly. It was only when he felt the warm spray of blood that he realized that Draco had just destroyed a Horcrux.

"…Thanks…" Harry muttered, going over to Draco.

Draco was wincing at the pain in his wrists, "_Let's get out of here…" _He whispered as Harry dragged him to the statue of Gregory the Smarmy.

When Harry said the password he had long since memorized, he noticed a piece of paper wedge behind the statue. Upon further inspection, he discovered that the Marauder's Map had been carefully folded and hidden behind the statue.

'_Well that explains how Draco knew about the statue…'_ He thought, pulling Draco into the secret passage way before the door shut behind them. Once inside, Harry sat down next to Draco, breathing heavily. "Well…that was fun…" He panted.

Draco was resting his head on Harry's thigh; his breath's shallow and gasping. "…_You smell good…"_

Harry raised an eyebrow, "I smell like wine, sweat and blood. I think you took too many hits from the Cruciatus…" He wasn't going to hold Draco's words over his head. The poor guy was probably half insane at the moment.

The blonde furrowed his brow, "_Shut up…'s my delirium…be nice…"_ To Harry's surprise, Draco's arms wrapped their way around his waist sluggishly despite the fact that Draco had two broken wrists. Harry sighed, smoothing the blonde's hair.

Definitely delirious indeed.

* * *

_Awwwww! How cute! Too bad Harry is a first class idiot when it comes to romance. But who here would let the Taipan feed them a strawberry? [raises hand] Now who would let Harry carry them bridal style? [nearly jumps out of seat]_

_But did anyone else like the way that the Taipan interpreted the scene between Harry and Draco? Because I was laughing so hard when I wrote that. And a shoutout to _Krystal-Fairy_ because I was inspired by her review in chapter 16, I only just now got to writing it._

_Now for the question, and this one is actually kinda serious: Do you guys (or girls, since I'm kinda getting the feel that most of you are girls) think that I should bump the rating to _M?_ It's getting a little violent and I don't want to under rate this story. _

_Alright, I'll let you guys off to read other fanfics!_

_Until next time_

_slavetothepen_

_ps: slave loves snorting reviews!_


	22. Chapter 22

_I know, I know. I didn't update last week. I'll be honest: I had a really, **really** bad week last week and I just couldn't will myself to write a decent chapter. I do want to thank you guys for not sending a million messages like 'OMG it's SUNDAY, where's the chapter!" :)_

_So a couple things: 1. This fanfic is now longer than both _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone _and_ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_. Don't ask me why, but I found the word count on them both. 2. This fic has hit over 200,000 views! I'm totally stoked for that! 3. When I asked if I should bump up the rating to M, almost all of you were like "Yes! M for leMon and sMut!' And I could almost imagining some of you foaming at the mouth while you were writing that lol._

_And on a little bit of a sadder note, I think I may have to take some time away from writing in order to focus on schoolwork. I may or may not be failing a couple classes and I don't want that to happen. Now I won't put this story on Hiatus, because I've seen many a good story (such as the one that inspired this fic) go on Hiatus and never return. All I am saying is that I may not update every week like I usually do, maybe once every other week or dare I say three weeks._

_Well now that the depressing part is over, let's see how Draco is, shall we?_

* * *

_So much pain…_

_Draco could feel the searing pain from his wrists and from his throat, tore raw from screaming and being slowly suffocated. All he wanted was for the darkness to swallow him whole, if only so he wouldn't have to deal with anymore of the agony. 'Just let me die quickly…'_

_But no, he could feel himself being shaken roughly, warm hands desperately trying to pry him from the arms of sleep. Draco desperately tried to keep himself from waking, but the hands were too persistent._

"_Come on Draco, wake up…" Wait…Draco knew that voice, that soft and soothing tenor that would never hurt Draco…_

"_Reducto!" Draco could hear the voice shouting, followed by the rattling of chains. Ah, yes, the chains that held Draco prisoner… "Confringo!" There was a louder rattle this time, had Draco been freed? Though he dared not hope, Draco slowly opened his eyes._

_And knew, in that moment, that he was, in fact, dead. There was no other way to explain the sight before him, the near angelic sight of Harry Potter breaking his chains. There was no other way to explain the way the moonlight made his jet black locks take on an ethereal ebony hue; there was no other way that his eyes, no longer hidden by the harsh prison of his glasses, could be so bright, so passionately jade. There was no other way to explain the soft silk shirt that flowed off Harry's body in angelic and innocent folds, no other way to explain the black leather that stretched over the taut muscles of his legs and groin._

'_Thank you Merlin.' Draco thought, watching angel-Harry fuss over his chains. "Harry?" He asked, only to despair when he realized that his voice was ragged from screaming, still painfully hoarse. Why was he still alive?_

"_It's me Draco, don't worry." Draco watched the way Harry's lips moved, forming around each word delicately, "I'm getting you out of here." Another crash echoed in Draco's ears, bringing Draco back to reality. Harry was trying to free Draco from the castle? No, he'd only be caught…again._

_He couldn't let them get captured just because Draco couldn't possibly escape on his own, "You shouldn't be here…you need to save yourself…" Oh, how desperately Draco wished that his own voice didn't sound so weak and pathetic as he spoke to Harry._

"_I am." Harry replied, wrapping his arms around Draco, "You're coming with me." Immediately the blonde could feel the warmth of Harry's body so close to his own, he could feel the gentle heat of Harry's skin in contrast to the chilled surface of Draco's own. He wanted to go with Harry, he so desperately wanted to go with Harry to who knows where; where no one could ever find them and they could be alone…_

_The pain in his body told him that it simply wasn't an option, "But I'd just slow you down…" Draco whispered, unable to look at Harry as his heart broke, "Just leave me…"_

_The blonde could feel the soft rustle of Harry's dark locks as he shook his head, "You know me better than that, I'd never leave you behind." Draco suddenly found himself in Harry's arms, looking up into the pale face of his savior._

_Why would he do all this for him? Why would Harry risk himself for Draco? Why was Harry always such a hero? "Why?"_

_Harry looked down at Draco, and the blonde felt himself getting lost in the lush green of Harry's eyes, so full of concern and tender care. "You know exactly why." He muttered softly._

Draco groaned softly as he felt the sunlight beat across his eyelids. He felt the rough blankets of his bed and tried to keep from feeling his disappointment. _'Of course it was a dream…'_ He thought to himself, trying to burn the image of glasses-less, leather clad Harry into his memory for daydreams to come.

Fighting the protests of his sore body, Draco cracked open an eye.

Only to see vibrant green eyes peering back at him.

Draco's heart stopped at the sight of green, his mind wandering to several possibilities of how those beautiful green eyes got next to him in bed, none of them very appropriate.

"…Harry?"

"NYA!"

_That certainly wasn't Harry's voice. _Draco blinked repeatedly, letting his eyes adjust so that he could properly get a look at Teddy, who was peeking over the edge of the bed at him.

"You can really kill a fantasy, you know that kid?" Draco muttered his voice rough and sore.

Teddy giggled, bouncing happily as he tried to climb up on the bed. But as Teddy wasn't tall or strong enough, the baby boy gave a frustrated huff before looking at Draco expectantly.

"Demanding little bugger, aren't you?" Draco smirked, reaching over to Teddy. It was only when he saw that his forearms were wrapped in white gauze and splinted that he remembered the torture… "So that wasn't a dream…" he thought to himself.

"Nya!"

"Oh hush, I'll get you up." Draco vaguely thought that Teddy's demanding nature may have also been a quality from the Black family that the toddler inherited. But there were worst traits, Draco noted as he waved a gauzed up hand over Teddy, "_Winguardium Leviosa."_

Immediately, Draco could feel his wrists burning as the magic flowed from his fingertips. Luckily he was able to lift Teddy enough so that the little boy could crawl on the bed.

"I'll have you know that you interrupted one of the most fantastic dreams ever." Draco told the toddler, "That was quite rude; interrupting a man as he's quite literally in daydream heaven…enjoying the sight of a man in leather…" The blonde looked at Teddy, "You probably have no idea what I'm saying right now, so it really doesn't matter if I censor myself when I say I desperately want your godfather."

Just as Draco suspected, Teddy merely blinked at him.

"That's what I thought." He muttered, playing with Teddy's messy black locks, "He really is a handsome man you know. Not so much in a physical sense, granted he has that adorably messy look going for him, but more in a character sense." Draco assumed that he was delirious from the pain, as that was the only explanation as to why he was explaining himself to a toddler that the blonde could give himself. "I mean he's got this amazing sense of honor, he's almost obnoxiously noble…then there's his overwhelming sense of compassion. He could literally be bullied for years then turn around and…testify at his bully's murder trial." He sighed softly, "He really is something else, something that most humans couldn't possibly understand…and I am so in love with him I can barely keep myself from throwing myself into danger just to make him happy…"

Draco paused, lost in his own thoughts as he played with Teddy's hair. Was he really that head over heels that he would run into enemy territory and get himself nearly killed just so that he could help Harry?

_Yes._

Draco groaned, "I'm so hopeless…"

Teddy giggled and, in response to Draco monologue, wrinkled his nose until his unruly black hair turned into the fine flaxen hair that Draco had, while keeping Harry's brilliant green eyes. He smiled at Draco before taking on his sharp features and forming Harry's scar on his forehead.

The blonde could only stare at Teddy, the bizarre hybrid of Harry and Draco, in case Draco wasn't curious what his and Harry's love child would look like.

"…I just confess my darkest secret to you, and you taunt me with _this?_" Draco narrowed his eyes, "You are a sadistic bastard. You get that from your Aunt Bellatrix, and trust me, that is not a good thing."

Of course, Teddy really had no idea what Draco was saying, so he just giggled and proceeded to play with the bandages on Draco's hands. And after a few moments, Draco's small bout of anger at the child waned, and he played with Teddy until the boy ended up asleep on Draco's chest. A sigh escaped Draco's lips as he leaned back against his pillows, lost in his own thoughts. It wasn't long before the blonde's eyes closed and he returned to his dreams of torture and Harry.

* * *

The sound of humming woke Draco the second time, and this time he didn't mistake the other person for Harry.

"Oh, you're awake then?" A soft feminine voice sounded into Draco's unfocused world. The blonde was able to blink the sleep from his eyes enough to see the auburn hair of Lily Potter.

'_So that's where Harry gets his warm touch…'_ Draco mused before opening his mouth to speak.

Lily pressed a finger to his lips, "Don't try and speak, you'll only hurt yourself." She sat down on the bed beside Draco, "We were able to remove the collar from your neck, but it did some severe damage to your throat. There was a very strong _Verum Insolitus_ curse on it…but you already knew that didn't you?"

Draco nodded slowly, feeling the thick bandages on his neck. He didn't tell Lily that he had already had a lengthy conversation with Teddy, there didn't seem a point in doing so. Instead, he sat back as Lily carefully changed the bandages around his neck.

"Poppy would have known how to heal this nice and quickly…" She murmured, dabbing Dittany on his wounds, "But we have to make due…"

Draco said nothing as fresh gauze was wrapped around his neck, but he mused over the tender care that Lily worked with. It made perfect sense to Draco, that Harry would get his bravado for the courageous and reckless from his father, but his tender and loving nature from his mother…_it just made sense…_

Lily moved to Draco's wrists after his neck was tended to. Once the wrappings were gone, Draco could see the thick band of purple bruising the shackles had left. The sharp pain was gone, which most likely meant that the fractures had healed for the most part.

"…You're a very good healer." Draco said softly, watching her.

The red haired woman looked at Draco and smiled kindly, "Thank you Draco…I can't do nearly as much as Poppy used to be able, but I do my best with the limited resources we have."

They sat in silence for a bit while Lily applied various healing charms. It was only when Draco's arms were wrapped up again that Lily spoke.

"I couldn't help but notice that you have the Dark Mark on your arm…"

Draco groaned. He knew he would have to face his past eventually, but did it have to be Harry's _mother_ who confronted him?

With a deep breath, he spoke again, "I was in no way a good person when I was younger. I was a pureblood snob and that was the way I liked it. My father told me I was better than everyone else and I had no desire to question his judgment. I played the part of a good Slytherin and I wanted to be just like my father: rich, powerful and respected."

Draco realized that he wasn't helping his case in the slightest with the information he was giving, so he slowed down to rethink his strategy, "My father was put into Azkaban when I was 15 and as a result, V-…Voldemort had me take the Dark Mark and gave me a mission." He paused, "I was supposed to kill Dumbledore. I was in my 6th year and the entire year, I had to live with the knowledge that I either had to kill someone or be killed…And when I saw Professor Snape kill Dumbledore…I was almost sick. No matter how spoiled or arrogant I was, I wasn't a killer."

Lily stared at him, "…Dumbledore's dead in your world?"

Draco chuckled darkly, "Was that the only bit of information you gleaned from that monologue?" The blonde noted that Harry had most definitely gotten his mother's complexion, or at least her blush. "But after that, I was more a prisoner within the Deatheaters than a member: watching killings and tortures for a cause that really wasn't that important."

"So you admit that the blood supremacy concept is hogwash?" Lily raised a petite eyebrow.

They locked eyes for a minute before Draco remembered: Lily was a muggleborn.

He sighed, "I'll be honest: I'm still a spoiled brat sometimes. But I would rather be superior in the sense that 'oh look how much wealth and class I have' instead of 'you're the scum of the earth, let me crush you like a over-ripe grape'…I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't been for Harry."

"Harry seems to put a lot of trust in you, you must have done something right." She replied, her face betraying no emotions.

At this, Draco laughed weakly, "Harry has a hero complex: I heard that he even offered Voldemort a chance of redemption at the final battle…But to see him at my trial defending me…to see that _someone_ hadn't given up on me…it gave me hope. Harry saved me from Azkaban, but the Ministry still snapped my wand."

Lily nodded intently, "I've noticed that you have a bracelet on, I can't do any charms on it nor can I remove it…is that to keep you from doing magic?"

Draco looked down at the bracelet on his wrist. The wrist wasn't as healed as his other arm because no spells could be cast on it, and the silver was just as tight on his arm as always.

"Yes, after my wand was snapped, this was issued on me and my mother as a precaution. Even if I were to get my hands on a wand, I wouldn't be able to use it."

"But that hasn't stopped you from using magic."

_Harry obviously did not inherit his mother's observation skills_… "No, it doesn't anymore. The Ministry never thought that I would learn wandless magic. The bracelet merely stops me from using a wand, not from using magic; so I can still use Floo and whatnot. Leave it to Harry to teach his former bully wandless magic."

At this, Lily smiled, "He is rather noble isn't he?"

"A while back, I would have called him a reckless fool, but there's a fine line between the two, isn't there?"

The red head chuckled, "I suppose there is, but you're getting close to that line yourself you know."

Draco blinked. He was reckless, of course, but _noble?_ "I don't think you were listening to my story at all…"

"No, I was." She insisted, "But I also know that you've saved Harry from the Taipan, retrieved a Horcrux, then went into enemy territory to try and save Harry again, and to top it all off, you survived an interrogation from the Serpent King himself…where does recklessness stop and nobility begin?"

Draco didn't get a chance to answer, as Lily picked up Teddy and walked out of the room. The blonde stared up at the ceiling, replaying his dream from earlier, but imagining himself in the role of savior.

It was quite humorous indeed.

* * *

Draco was sitting up by the time he received his third visitor, and much like the previous guest, it was unexpected.

"I didn't realize I was getting a get well soon card from you, Longbottom." Draco said before he could stop himself.

Longbottom only chuckled, "Why do Ron and Hermione get the first name treatment while I'm still 'Longbottom'?"

It was only after Longbottom had shut the door that Draco noticed the plate of food that the other man had realized just how _hungry_ he was.

"I'm trying to break an old habit; it's harder than I thought." Draco admitted. Longbottom, no, _Neville_ smiled softly as he set the plate in Draco's lap. Draco stared at the plate, then to the bandaged paws that were once his hands, then to the blasted fork that seemed to be taunting him…

"Shall I feed you then?" Neville was still smiling in a good natured way and Draco, unwilling to let his stomach continue growling, nodded. "Very well then, what would you like a bite of first?"

Draco looked at the plate again. He noted that the sausage smelled delicious and that the toast had been done to a perfect golden brown. The eggs had even been scrambled perfectly…

"Let's try some of the sausage then." Draco decided.

Neville nodded and cut a small bite of sausage before feeding Draco a forkful. As he chewed, Draco reflected for a moment If that moment had occurred more than three years ago, Draco would have been disgusted and would have rather starved than be fed by Neville Longbottom. Draco had a suspicion that Neville was thinking something along the same lines, but he at least had the decency to not point anything out. That would have been the last thing Draco needed in that moment.

After a long silence, Draco swallowed, "…That was quite delicious."

Neville nodded, "I know, Harry made breakfast for everyone."

Draco couldn't help but scoff, "He's great at Quidditch, he slays dark lords _and _he can cook. No wonder all those girls wanted to jump Harry our sixth year."

There was a moment's pause before Neville began to laugh, "I can't believe I just heard Draco Malfoy tell a joke!"

"Maybe if you stick around long enough, I'll do a trick." Draco added sarcastically, "Now feed me, I want to know how Harry makes his eggs."

The other boy was kind enough to limit his comments as he fed Draco, allowing the crippled boy to eat in peace. It was nice to have company while at the same time not feel the obligation of conversing for long periods of time. Before either boy knew it, the plate was empty and Draco was feeling much fuller than he had in days.

"Merlin, who knew Harry could cook like that?" Draco mused, settling back in his pillows.

Neville shrugged, "He said that he learned when he lived with his aunt and uncle, but other than that he didn't say much."

Draco rolled his eyes, "He wouldn't, would he? Sometimes I think Harry is too modest for his own good."

"I think Harry just wanted to be like anyone else, just a normal guy."

"Hogwash," Draco shook his head, "He may not like the attention he gets, but he certainly craves the adventure. A normal guy would have tried to find a way back home after being pulled into an alternate dimension, a normal guy would have fought with a team, not charge headfirst with a 'shoot first, plan later' strategy. I don't think Harry could be normal if he had to…"

Neville smiled softly, "Yeah…Harry doesn't like planning much, does he?"

"I think he's addicted to the rush of the unknown a tad too much, if you ask me." Draco nodded.

"…What about you?"

Draco looked at Neville, "What about me?"

Neville shrugged, "You've developed a taste for the dangerous lately…"

At this, Draco furrowed his brow, "I think you forgot that I was captured and _tortured_, Neville. I definitely wouldn't plan for that to happen to anyone."

"I know that, but you've gone on more missions than I have, and you've retrieved one Horcrux and destroyed another."

Draco gave a noncommittal shrug, "Harry needed me to do those things. I owe him a lot more than a few trinkets and a dead snake."

"Plus you do crazy things when you're in love, huh?"

There was a moment that Draco felt his heart squeeze so tightly that his blood would stop flowing. He just stared at Neville, whose face showed no obvious emotion other than that small, friendly smile. Out of all the people that could have possibly discovered his secret, if had to be _Longbottom_.

When Draco didn't answer, Neville continued, "Before you left for Castle Slytherin, I overheard what you said to Harry while he was unconscious…"

Memories of his heartfelt confession to the unresponsive Harry came rushing back, and Draco fought the reflex to blush at the thought.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone." Neville gave a warm smile to Draco.

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Isn't this the part where you tell me to stay away from Harry, that I'm up to something or that Harry would never fall in love with another man?"

This caused Neville to chuckle, "Well I can't tell you to stay away from Harry because we all live under one roof; that would just be foolish. And I doubt you would undergo torture for some little love scheme, you aren't that mentally unstable. And I'm hardly the person to say that men don't make good lovers. That'd be the pot calling the kettle black."

It took Draco a good moment or two before his thoughts caught up with themselves. _Had Neville Longbottom just come out of the closet to him?_

"…You don't want to jump Harry too, do you?"

At this, Neville laughed, "Oh no, don't worry. Harry's a great guy, but he's not my type. He's all yours…well once that little problem with the Taipan gets solved…and once you manage to gather the courage to tell him that is."

Draco groaned, "Why must I tell him?"

"Well there's no way that Harry's going to _notice_ anything." Neville chuckled, "He may have defeated Voldemort, but his powers of observation are wretched. No, the only way he's ever going to know is if you tell him."

There was a sickening sinking sensation in Draco's stomach that made him want to avoid this conversation like the plague… "I really don't think that's a good idea…"

Neville's face soften, "You know, my great-uncle Algie would always say 'live like there's no-'"

"Yes yes, 'live like there's no tomorrow'. Rather cliché, don't you think Neville?" Draco sighed, trying to sink back into his pillows, "And I hardly need to worry about there not being any tomorrows, we are in the middle of a war after all."

With a sigh, Neville continued, "I was going to say that Uncle Algie would always say 'live like there's no yesterday'."

Draco paused, "'Live like there's no yesterday?' …What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well Uncle Algie always told me that if you live like there's no yesterday, there's no reason in the world for you to believe that you can't do whatever you want. There are no past failures or past mistakes that can haunt you, every day is a clean slate for a new beginning." Neville looked of the window for a bit before continuing, "I mean I've failed more times than I can remember, but I kept trying, never knowing if that day would be the day I would succeed or not. But everything did eventually happen the way it needed to."

After that, Neville stood, "Well anyway, I better let you get some rest. Don't push yourself too hard Draco, but…think about what I said." He smiled one last time before taking the empty plate and leaving quietly.

For a long time, Draco laid back in bed, staring at the ceiling. Had Neville Longbottom just given him philosophical advice? More importantly, had Neville Longbottom given him _romantic_ advice?

Draco groaned. It was worse than he thought if even Neville thought he was pathetic.

_Although…_

Draco had to admit that the thought of every day being a fresh start was appealing: not having to worry about the years of bullying to put off his love for Harry; there was no sixth year spent in paranoia; there was no year on the run, watching terrible, terrible things.

There was no taking the Dark Mark.

As Draco closed his eyes again, he couldn't help but smile softly.

Maybe Uncle Algie was on to something…

* * *

_I know, there was no Harry in this chapter!, I don't think that's happened since chapter 1, has it? And I love how the same scene could be seen by three different people in three different ways (teehee, Harry's in leather pants! How cliche!) I kinda wanted to change the mood a little, bring down the adrenalin level before we moved onto the next huge rush of adventure, hence Draco having a heart to heart with three unlikely people._

_And the slash fangirl in me made Neville gay lol._

_Alright, so here's your question of the week, and I'll give you two to choose from: When do you think Draco will confess to Harry and how? or Who do you think is Neville's slash partner?_

_Props to all of you who guessed correctly when they said Neville was the footsteps back in Chapter 20._

_Well I hope I get to update soon, but I would rather pass all my classes!_

_Until next time,_

_slavetothepen_

_ps: slave loves her reviews almost as much as chocolate!_


	23. Chapter 23

_Oh wow, I really didn't expect to be gone that long everyone! Life can be a bitch sometimes huh? Like how two days after I posted my last chapter, my computer died! (it was just the charger, so I didn't lose any of my stories thank goodness!) But during that time, someone suggested I read _The Marriage Stone be Josephine Darcy_. I thought 'sure, why not?' so I read **all 70 chapters on my Ipod.**__ Then I discovered that it was incomplete and hadn't been updated in years...it was a very good story, shame it wasn't finished._

___Anyways, when I finally got my computer fixed, my phone died. This turned out to be ok because I got a new phone :3 but it was torture going without one for a week. Then I went home for spring break and my sister turned 17. It was very nice and we played **Just Dance 2** until our arms were sore!_

_I apologize to the people that I promised oneshots to, I've been a little(very) busy. I do plan on getting those out eventually, but please let me try to not fail my classes lol._

_So as a special treat, I've decided to nickname this chapter **Episode 23: Revenge of the Slash**. You'll figure out why soon enough (psst: it earns its M rating!)_

_So...I think I'm done ranting/groveling...so here's chapter 23!_

* * *

To say that Draco wasn't disappointed that Harry had yet visited him while he was bedridden would have been a lie. He was eager to see Harry, if only to confirm that Draco's memory of their escape was correct. The visions and dreams of Harry's rescue were still vivid in his mind, the sensations Draco felt during that emotional moment.

_You know exactly why…_

That was what Harry had told him, but Draco still struggled with what he supposedly knew about Harry that would make him risk his own life for Draco's beaten and obviously broken body. And then…

_Draco rested his head on Harry's thigh; his breath shallow and gasping. "…You smell good…" The leather of Harry's pants was warm from Harry's skin and it carried a soft woodsy smell. Draco breathed in gently thought his nose._

_The blonde could almost feel Harry's skepticism, "I smell like wine, sweat and blood. I think you took too many hits from the Cruciatus…" It was probably true, Draco had in fact survived a torture session and was still being slowly suffocated. That being said, he might as well take advantage of his moment of insanity; it wasn't everyday that you get to cozy up to a wanted man._

_The blonde furrowed his brow, "Shut up…'s my delirium…be nice…" Wrapping his arms around Harry's waist sluggishly, Draco could imagine Harry's surprise; the blonde did have two broken wrists after all. After a tense moment, Draco felt Harry sigh, his chest expelling much air from his lungs. Then…then there was the warm sensation of a hand smoothing his hair, fingers carding through his fine locks. Draco couldn't remember the last time anyone had been that intimate with him: perhaps Pansy in one of her attempts to come off as affectionate, or when his mother coddled him as a small child? _

_It didn't matter; all that mattered was that, while Draco was losing consciousness from lack of oxygen and his injuries, he could pretend that Harry's warm embrace was lulling him to sleep…_

Draco blushed as he remembered just how intimately he had truly been in that hidden hallway. Had he really been that detached from reality that he had passed out with his head in Harry's lap, not to mention with his arms around the ebony-haired man's waist?

He had, but damnit, it felt good. The blonde supposed that Harry would simply excuse his behavior due to their near death experience. Neville was right in saying that Harry could ignore the most obvious things when it came to love. Yes, if any romancing was to be done, it would have to be Draco who initiated it. And, to his eternal shame, his own evil twin was his biggest rival, a rival who seemed to be much farther along in his relationship with Harry. At least the Taipan had kissed Harry while the hero had been conscious; Draco only had a night when Harry thought Draco was the Taipan and a few delusional tender moments. If he was being generous, Draco could say that he had Harry's godson as his confidant…

'_Well'_ He thought, '_That's one thing the Taipan doesn't have.'_ This brought a small smile to Draco's face, ignoring his 'Don'e smile until it's perfect' rule for the moment. After all, he was perfectly alone.

But then again, he had thought he was alone when he kissed Harry. Who would have thought Neville could be so sneaky… or gay for that matter, but then again, that made a bit more sense…didn't it?

Draco turned his attention to the door as it opened. The urge to smile resurfaced when a familiar head of black hair came into the room. With the control of a true Slytherin, Draco pulled his features into a relaxed expression as Harry sat down next to him on the bed.

"I was wondering when you were going to visit me." Draco joked, looking at his bandaged hands, "Your mother had a knack for bandaging, I now know the sensation one feels when they have paws." He held up the white appendages that were once his hands.

Harry chuckled, "Well now I understand why Neville had to feed you."

Fighting the urge to blush, Draco muttered, "Oh great, now Weasley will never let me live that down." He knew he shouldn't be so embarrassed; he was not some bloody girl…but Merlin, how embarrassing to know that the entire Order of the Phoenix knew how handicapped he was.

But Harry only smiled, "Don't worry; I'm sure Ron will keep his comments to himself." There was a small chuckle from Harry as he ran a hand through his hair, "From what I've heard, you've earned his respect."

This caused Draco to raise an eyebrow. Surely Harry knew what he was suggesting, didn't he?

Harry could see the look of disbelief and grinned, "Don't worry, I didn't say you and Ron had to kiss and hug, but he knows when respect is due."

"So that's what makes you Gryffindors giddy? Life and death situations?" Draco drawled, smirking slightly.

To his surprise, Harry smirked back, "You've figured it out: we Gryffindors find near death experiences to be an incredible turn on." Harry Winked before laughing lightly.

Draco could feel something inside of him twitch. Did Harry have to choose those words, make that suggestion? There was no way Harry could be so oblivious…could he?

But Draco decided not to follow that particular train of thought, in favor of changing the topic, "So where have you been? Not hiding from me, are you?"

Harry chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "Well actually I've been quarantined. It was only just not that my mum was convinced that I wasn't going to attack you again-"

'_Is that what they told him he did?'_

"-which reminds me, what exactly happened to me?"

Draco wasn't quite sure how to tell Harry what happened, and definitely wasn't sure he would react well to learning that he had tried to seduce Draco in the middle of the night… "The Taipan put a spell on you." He decided to go with the obvious, "It allowed him to control you."

There was a pause in which Draco tried to think of how to tell Harry about their night together. But luckily Harry didn't give him the chance.

"So how did I end up waking up naked in the Taipan's bed?"

Draco's train of thought stopped. "You what?"

Harry blushed, "Erm…I woke up tied to the Taipan's bed. I guess that the prince somehow ordered me there while I was cursed." Harry looked embarrassed at the thought of the ordeal, "But why were you at the castle?" He asked suddenly.

This caused the blonde to blink, "…They didn't tell you?" Obviously not, Draco noted, but it hadn't kept him from asking the needless question. "Well I was supposed to go into the castle to figure out how to reverse the curse and…I got caught."

"I saw that." Harry muttered, "You gave the Order quite a scare when we got back."

_Harry could feel his bare feet going numb as he stood, Draco weighing heavily on his back. The floor in Honeydukes's had been hard to lift, especially when Harry later realized that several boxes of abandoned inventory had been piled up on the hatch. Draco had passed out long before they had reached Hogsmeade, and the blonde was far from light._

_He realized that neither he nor Draco could show their faces in public without causing a riot. His best bet was to find the Hogsmeade Order and floo back to the headquarters. But to find the Hogsmeade Order….Well there wouldn't be any help for them if they stayed in the basement; that much was obvious._

_While he was crouched down in the abandoned shop, Harry noticed a pile of ash and charred wood on the dusty floor. He looked back at Draco, who was sprawled across the floor in a stark, white contrast to the dark, dingy grime. Harry grabbed a handful of ash and charcoal, watching the small bits as they fell between his fingers. For some reason, Harry was reluctant to sully Draco's fair hair. But the fine flaxen locks were what made Draco so noticeable so, like the rape of something pure, Harry ran his hand through the blonde's hair, dragging the dark grey ash across the white, marking it with ugly black charcoal._

_Soon Draco's hair was no longer white, and Harry even smeared the ash across his pale, pointed face for good measure before going back to the window. The streets were relatively empty, but there were those who were hanging around the Three Broomsticks who could possibly identify Harry and Draco, but so far, there was no sign of the Hogsmeade Order. Granted, that made sense, even if they were disguised, outlaws would avoid being out in public too much. But surely there should be some…_

_There. Harry could see the shape of a body dressed in a cloak moving from the lights of the tavern, several bottles in his (or her) arms._

'I suppose even rebel insurgents need to have a drink once in a while…'_ Harry mused as he watched the paranoid shadow creep down the streets of Hogsmeade. It was then that Harry saw the top floor of the Hogshead had a light on in one of the rooms just as the shadow stopped at the doorway of the building. Harry had to strain his eyes to keep from losing the image of the shadow within the shadows. After a few tense moments, the door opened and admitted the figure inside. _

"_Right then." Harry muttered, smearing some ash onto his own face as a precaution before taking Draco into his arms, "Here we go."_

_If someone were to ask, Harry would have sworn that his feet were blue, if not black, from the cold of the snow as he hurried across the open square. He knew that it would have been better for him to keep to the shadows, but Harry didn't have time to be anything but direct; if not for the sake of his feet, than for the sake of Draco, who needed medical attention immediately. If anyone saw Harry and Draco make their way across the square, they would have thought that it was just a dirty young lad escorting his clearly drunk grandfather home. An odd sight? Of course, but dangerous? Never._

_Harry stood in the alcove where the door was, shifting Draco so that the blonde was leaning against him, leaving at least one arm free. He could faintly hear the voices inside, the wards not as strong as the ones at the Headquarters. With his free arm, Harry rapped his fist against the door, hoping he could get their attention._

_The voices died down to whispers, Harry strained to hear their conversation._

"_Damnit Seamus, you were followed!" He heard Angelina say harshly._

"_Impossible!" Seamus countered, "I was positive no one saw me!"_

"_Shut up, both of you." Harry was almost stunned at the cold and authoritative role that Cedic took as he demanded silence. "Stay quiet, they'll be gone soon."_

'Like hell I will.'_ Harry thought, pounding against the door, "Let me in!" he called desperately, "It's Harry!"_

_This caused even Seamus to quiet. Harry shivered from the cold as a small hatch opened to reveal Dean (or was it Angelina's?) dark eye._

"_State your name."Definitely Dean asking._

_But it didn't help Harry any, "I just told you! I'm Harry!"_

_Dean turned away from Harry, giving Harry a good view of the dark skin of Dean's ear. The other boy seemed to be asking Cedric something, but Harry couldn't hear him._

_He did, however, hear Cedric, "It's alright, last I heard, Harry is nameless."_

_Dean nodded, turning back to Harry, "Now who am I?"_

_Harry grit is teeth, "D-damnit, D-Dean!" his teeth were chattering despite his best efforts, "D-Dean T-Thomas, you let me in right-t now!"_

_Dean looked at Cedric again, "Now what?"_

"_You know the rules." Cedric's voice came coldly._

_Fuelled by desperation, Harry threw himself against the door, "Let us in, D-Draco needs help!" Again he could hear Cedric talking down anyone who wanted to let him in. In anger, Harry snapped, "D-damnit Cedric, forget what I said about marrying C-C-Cho, you're a d-d-d-d-…you're an arsehole!"_

_Silence hung inside, stunned by Harry's words._

"…_Let him in."_

"_But Cedric-!"_

"_But nothing. Name or no name, only the real Harry would know that information." Cedric muttered._

_The door opened, sending Harry and Draco sprawling across the floor. Harry was too tired to stand or even sit up as he was drug from the door and into the inner rooms of the Hogshead. Either there was a fire, or someone had laid a blanket on top of him, because Harry felt incredibly warm. Or perhaps his feet were now too numb to even comprehend the cold._

"_What happened to you, Harry?" Cedric muttered as Angelina wiped the ash off Harry's face._

_Harry shook his head, trying to keep from shaking, "Help Draco, He's half dead already."_

"_Cedric," Oliver, who was hunched over Draco's body, "he's got a __**Verum Insolitus **__collar on him."_

"_Damnit." Cedric let out a string of curses, "Get it off of him. Now."_

_Harry could hear the click of a blade being drawn as Oliver brought his hands to Draco's neck, "What's a __**Verum Insolitus**__ collar?"_

"_One of the Serpent King's toys," Angelina replied darkly, holding Draco's head steady as Oliver cut at the collar, "made when he decided that __Veritaserum didn't entertain him enough."_

_Dean came over with a bowl of water and a rag to clean Draco's face, trying to keep any of the ash from the open wound on his neck, "Once a question's been asked, the collar won't loosen until you tell the truth. Keep quiet and it'll keep strangling you until you choke or your neck snaps."_

"_**How do you know about that passageway?"**_

_**A grotesque gagging sound was heard from Draco, his breath hissing in Harry's ear, "Ma-ap..." He whispered, causing his gagging to stop.**_

_Harry blanched at the thought of Draco's ordeal, and the fact that he had inadvertently caused him pain, "…Is he alright?"_

"_He's still toasty, if that's what you mean." Oliver muttered, fingers feeling Draco's pulse as he peeled away the leather of the collar, "Not sure if that's enough to count as 'alright'."_

_Harry closed his eyes, giving his strained eyes a rest, "He's alive…that's enough for now. He needs help."_

"_Well you got it." Seamus quipped, looking at Draco, "He's got two bum wrists, must have been shackled up."_

"_I could have told you that." Harry muttered bitterly._

_Oliver furroed his brow, "Cedric, these wounds are deep, must have been trying to withhold information." He murmured, "I need to get him to Lily."_

_Cedric nodded curtly, "Go."_

_Harry watched as Oliver carried Draco to the fireplace, wasting no time in grabbing a handful of Floo powder and vanishing in a plume of green flame. The fire felt warm on is skin, a welcome sensation._

"_So." He asked, "I take it that you and Cho haven't gotten married?"_

_The serious look on Cedric's face said it all, "Now is hardly the time to speak such nonsense."_

"_If not now, when?" Harry asked, Besides, it takes my mind off my numb feet."_

"_Now is the time to worry about ending the war." Cedric bundled Harry's feet. "When there is peace, then happy events can occur."_

_Harry shook his head, "You never know if tomorrow is a guarantee. It's better to relish what you have, it could be gone tomorrow."_

_There was a silence in the room, Cedric stopping his laying a blanket on Harry. After a few tense moments, Cedric's voice was heard, quivering ever so slightly._

"_You can't see much without you glasses, can you?" _

_This caused Harry to blink. It was an odd question to be sure, but then Harry saw it. Beyond Cedric, Harry could vaguely see Seamus, and beside him, Dean's dark figure. Angelina was washing Draco's blood off her hands in the bowl used to clean Draco and Harry knew Oliver was with Draco at the Headquarters._

_There was no Cho._

_Harry opened his mouth to speak, but the fire roared to life, sending Oliver back into the room. Cedric stood, still keeping his air of authority._

"_Relax Seeker. It's me" Oliver said, holding up his hands in surrender, "The fangless viper is with Thorn, he's stable."_

_Cedric nodded, relaxing somewhat._

"_But they are distressed at Harry's escape." Oliver continued, causing the Hogsmeade Order to turn their gaze to Harry, "He apparently escaped surveillance in the middle of the night, under the influence of a dark curse or poison that hindered his sanity."_

_At this, Cedric's eyes burned in rage, wheeling to face Harry, drawing his wand in a passionate fury._

_Harry's unfocused eyes widened, "Cedric, NO!"_

"_**Stupefy!**__"_

"So Diggory stunned you?" Draco asked, eyebrows ached curiously.

Harry shrugged, "They didn't know I was lucid at the time. Cedric was acting out of self preservation."

Draco shook his head, "Harry, no doubt that Aunt Bella could try and bite off your bits and you would reason that she was justified in castrating you."

There was a moment of silence in which Harry stared at Draco in horror.

"Dear Merlin Draco, I'm going to have nightmares about your aunt now!" Harry shuddered violently, "Why would I be starkers in front of her anyway?"

"It was just a joke, Harry." Draco chuckled, "You hardly need to put any thought into the notion." The two shared a moment of laughter, treasuring the lighthearted atmosphere. After they quieted down, the serious air settled on them both, "…So Chang's gone?"

Harry nodded slowly, "I found out later that there had been a raid on one of Voldemort's store houses for magical supplies and she took a killing curse from the King Cobra."

"The King…?"

"Lucius Malfoy."

"Ah." Draco nodded slowly, not so much fazed by the use of his father's name but more in thought about the situation, "Never thought it would have been Chang before Diggory."

Harry nodded, but said nothing. Draco noted that there was a peacefully look to his face as he watched the green-eyed man. He waited a full minute or so before Harry spoke, "I suppose it's better this way."

Draco furrowed his brow, "Better for Change to die first?"

The other boy nodded again, "When Cedric died, Cho fell apart emotionally; she was borderline useless magically-"

"-Wait, you grew up with Longbottom and you thought _Chang_ was useless?"

"Cho never killed a Horcrux."

"Touché."

"-But I think that Cho's death will drive Cedric to fight harder to get to that time of peace that Cho didn't get to have…"

"Sounds about right…" Draco murmured, trying to wiggle his fingers, "So how is that group of the Order doing?"

"Well with Cho's death, their numbers were down to five, so we decided to send a few of the Weasleys over to help."

Draco couldn't help but add a snide comment, "Beware the Weasleys…"

Harry shrugged, "Never underestimate the ferocity of a Weasley..."

* * *

The main room of the Hogshead was heavy with silence, the only sound came from the occasional crackle from the fire. The five sitting around the fire were broken spirits. Cedric could see Seamus and Dean clutching each other's hands as Seamus rested his head on Dean's shoulder, and beside them, he heard Angelina's stomach grumble guiltily. Oliver wrapped a brotherly arm around her shoulders to give her a sense of comfort. Brothers. That's what they were. The Fraternity of the Hopeless Cause.

Cedric was in a dark place, his soul crushed by the war and Cho's death. His gaze went to the mantle above the fireplace, where several wands were laid on display, trying to give an air of pride; pride in those who had fallen before them. Cho's wand was on the end, snapped from the fray and fine silver unicorn hairs were exposed to the elements. That broken wand was all Cedric had of Cho, and now he faught to kill all Deatheaters and if he died killing the King Cobra, all the better. He only lived to kill.

So when the fire burst into a green hue, Cedric was the first with his wand out and trained on the fire, the others quickly following his lead. Cedric noted that Dean was slightly slow on the draw. _'That will get him killed…'_ he thought darkly as the figure of Charlie Weasley came out of the fire.

Everyone was on their feet, encircling their guest. "State your name." Cedric said coldly, the tip of his wand pressed to Charlie's neck.

Charlie didn't flinch at the treatment, playing his part perfectly, "Inferno."

Cedric nodded, "And who are we?"

Charlie didn't miss a beat as he scanned his eyes across the room, "Seeker, Highlander, Nirvana, India Ink and Whiskey."

"And Shang-Hai?"

"Fallen."

The room relaxed, properly greeting Charlie and welcoming the familiar face. Angelina even went so far as to hug the older man.

"So why the sudden visit?" Cedric asked, crossing his arms.

Charlie shook his head, "Not a visit. Sweets heard about your dwindling numbers and decided to send the cavalry." With that, the red head stuck his hand into the green flames, signaling back to his comrades. Immediately, the flames roared to life, spitting out another head of red hair.

"George!" Angelina cried out, throwing herself into George's arms. George smiled and kissed Angelina softly before the fire opened up to reveal Fred following his brother into the room. Seamus and Dean brightened at Fred, smiling happily for the first time in months.

But it wasn't until Percy stepped out of the green flames that Cedric could see the change on Oliver's face.

"What are you doing here?" He asked Percy, taking the bespectacled boy off to the side.

"I volunteered to transfer." Cedric heard Percy reply quietly, looking up at Oliver.

Oliver rested his hands on Percy's shoulders, "I thought that you didn't want to be in such a high risk area."

Percy shook his head, "I'm done letting others fight for me, I'm sick of waiting for the war to end, not knowing if you lived or died…" At this, the red head discreetly took the Scotsman's hand from his shoulder, holding it in his own, "I'd rather die by your side than live without you…"

Quietly, Oliver pressed his lips to Percy's forehead and murmured, "I'm glad you're here Percy…I missed you…"

"I missed you too…"

Cedric turned away from the couple, fighting the jealous rage that boiled in him. How could they be so happy when he had his love torn from him so cruelly? Yet at the same time he knew that Cho would have been overjoyed at the reunion between the separated lovers…

A hand fell on Cedric's Shoulder, causing him to look at the arm and body the hand belonged to.

"There's no need to bottle up your mourning because Angelina and Oliver are with their lovers." Charlie said softly as Cedric sunk into a dilapidated armchair, staring into the fire. "You should take time to mourn her death."

"I can't." Cedric muttered, turning his gaze to the line of wands on the mantle, wands of their fallen comrades, more specifically Cho's broken wand. "I can't mourn until her killer is dead. And If I die trying, all the better."

"Cho wouldn't want you to think like that."

"Cho can't think anything anymore."

Charlie sighed, "The sooner this war ends, the better."

"I just hope your brothers don't join the other fallen." Cedric replied.

"They aren't helpless Cedric." Charlie told him, "Percy was telling the truth about fighting for himself; and Fred and George have been more than ready to transfer ever since Ronnie got his own twin.'

Cedric nodded, looking away from the fallen wands, "But will it be enough?"

Charlie looked at the happy friends and lovers, breathing life into the broken spirit of rebellion, "It's enough for now…"

* * *

Neville walked slowly to the kitchen sink, washing the plates from breakfast. Harry had been kind enough to make breakfast for them all, so Neville didn't mind cleaning up for him. Besides, Harry wanted to see Draco.

The thought made him smile. Who would have thought that Draco Malfoy would be in love with Harry Potter? After a moment of pondering, Neville supposed that it would have explained Draco's behavior over the years. He really did wish the two of them the best of luck in their love…

A firm hand groped his backside, causing Neville to star, whirling around to face the culprit, "Must you? You nearly caused my heart to stop…"

His companion chuckled, "Well I think I can get your heart started again…" He placed a gentle kiss on Neville's lips.

Neville could feel his heart in his chest warming, spreading throughout his body. "We shouldn't be doing this here in the kitchen…" He murmured halfheartedly, shying away from the kiss.

"Why not? Everyone is working in Sweets's office, we have the room to ourselves…" Strong arms wrapped around Neville's waist, "I haven't had time to spend alone with you."

"I know, and you've been so patient." Neville smiled up at his lover, "I'm just not ready to tell everyone about us yet."

The other man sighed, "I know, I guess that I'm just eager to tell the world about us." Warm lips pressed against Neville's jaw, "I had heard about Alice and Frank's lost son, but I never would have imagined that you would be so stunning…"

This caused Neville to blush, "I wouldn't call myself stunning…"

"Well I do," He chuckled, "I don't mind waiting, as long as I'm with you." The two began to kiss after that, Neville smiling at the tender gesture.

The innocent display invoked a heated response from the other man as he tangled his hand in Neville's tawny hair. Their lips were swollen as when they parted for air, "Merlin Neville…" he breathed, his lips barely brushing against Neville's as he pressed against the shorter man, the heat burning between them evident from the growing arousal from both of them.

Neville's breaths came in short gasps, "Are you sure we should be doing this here?" His skin felt like it was on fire, even when his lover stripped him of his shirt, "Someone could-"

"No one is going to come," The other man reassured him, silencing Neville's protests with a few well placed kisses down his neck and collarbone. "It's just you, me and…" he trailed off, tracing his tongue down Neville's chest, teasing the pert nipples with a warm tongue and gentle teeth.

The struggle to keep quiet was a futile effort for Neville, his body wracked with shivers at his lover's tender treatment, "Nnn…stop…" He whispered, gripping the counter behind him for support as he leaned back.

To his surprise, the sensational ministrations stopped, causing Neville to look down at the other man, "Do you really want me to stop?" His lover murmured, sinking to his knees in front of Neville.

Neville blushed as the bolder man played with his waistband, teasing the button free, "You wouldn't…" The shy man whispered, but he knew all too well how stubborn his lover could be. It was all he could do to contain a whimper as his jeans were slowly pulled down to his knees, his lover already breathing hot air onto the growing damp spot of his briefs. "You're mad, you know that?" he breathed, face flushed.

The other man smirked, sliding the elastic waistband down to get access to Neville's hardened phallus, "Yeah, but you love it…" he replied, resting a hand on Neville's thigh as he began to stroke the needy member.

The sexual attention caused Neville's breath to catch, before he let out a wanton moan, "Dear sweet Merlin…" his knees began to shake, causing him to rely more on the counter for support, "Oh…oh, I think I love you…"

His lover stopped stroking Neville, looking up at the flushed man. They shared a smoldering look, the underlying adoration veiled thinly with lust, before the other man smiled, "I think I love you too." He answered before taking Neville into his mouth.

From then, Neville lost control of his inhibitions, whispering and moaning the name of his lover; ignoring the rest of the world, in that moment, it was just the two of them…

* * *

"What I want to know is where the idea to use nonsense names came from." Draco commented, sitting up in his bed.

Harry shifted so that the two of them could sit together comfortably, "Well I know that everyone in the Order has their identity under the _Fidelius_ charm, so anytime that they leave the headquarters, they're automatically disguised to the rest of the world. I guess it applies to their names as well…actually that makes sense; it would be pointless to disguise oneself if you still refer to everyone by the name of a wanted criminal."

Draco chuckled, "And here I thought that you were incapable of logical thinking."

"Hey! I thought I've been doing pretty well, thank you very much." He smiled, stretching his arms above his head, "But yeah, each Order member chooses a name to go by. It usually has something to do with their name or personality. Like Cedric went by Seeker because…well, that one was obvious." He shrugged, "I did like Sirius's codename: it's Prodigal, because he is the prodigal son of the Black family, not like he has any intention of returning…"

Draco couldn't help but smile at Harry's ramblings. There was just something about the way that his eyes would light up at the prospect of adventure, the way he spoke ever so slightly faster, that made him seem so innocent despite the life he had lived, still lived. Without a doubt, Harry had the strongest spirit out of anyone Draco had come in contact with.

It was only when Harry stopped speaking that Draco noticed that he was staring at him, "…What?" Draco asked, feeling self conscious.

Harry shook his head, "I just never realized before but…you have a very nice smile." He smiled brightly.

The realization that he had been smiling in front of Harry caused Draco to blush, but after hearing Harry's praise, he decided that he could smile more. Especially if it meant seeing Harry smile more often. But still…

"Harry…" Draco started, remembering his dream, "When you were rescuing me, I asked you why you would save me instead of getting yourself out safely. You told me that I already knew the answer…what did you mean by that?"

This caused Harry to blink, but then he began to smile again, "I'm a savior remember? It's my calling. I told you that back when we were alone in the study, after you were almost possessed by the locket?"

It was then that Draco did remember that intimate moment in which Harry had shown him the scar on his chest from the Horcrux. It was that night that Draco had first admitted to himself that he loved Harry. _'Damnit.' _Draco thought, _'Longbottom was right…Harry's clueless when it comes to romance…'_ As Harry smiled, Draco couldn't help but stare, transfixed, at Harry's full lips. '_I guess it's up to me then…'_ steeling himself, Draco leaned forward with the intent on kissing Harry, leaning on his arm for support…

Unfortunately for Draco, the moment he had put his weight on his arm, searing pain shot throughout his body. He had forgotten that his wrists had at one point been broken, but in that single moment, all he could think was to move his hand. Without his arm as a crutch, his body lost its balance, falling off the side of the bed. From then, everything moved in slow motion.

Harry, being the savior that he was, tried to catch Draco before he fell, but it was too late, and Draco only brought Harry down with him. Draco hit the cold of the wooden floor first, thankfully on his back, before Harry landed on top of him. Draco wasn't blind, he could see just how close he was to Harry, how all he would need to do was get Harry to move an inch…

In a split second, Draco made his decision. With all the willpower in his body, he managed to get a finger to hook on Harry's shirt and, ignoring the pain, gave a sharp jerk to bring Harry's lips to his.

It was rough, to be sure. They bumped teeth and Harry may have even bit Draco's lip. Draco was still half-tangled in his sheets and Harry's knee was stabbing uncomfortably into Draco's bony hip. It sure as hell wasn't the perfect kiss, but it was still a kiss to Draco.

'_Finally…'_ Draco thought, closing his eyes in bliss.

* * *

_Woohoo! Get some! Yay for slash!_

_Teehee, who would have thought that Neville would be such a little whore? (lol, jk, I love Neville) I'm sure you all have assumptions on who is Neville's lover, but let me say this: the absence of Harry in Darkverse changed a lot of things!_

_So in honor of me coming back from my longest hiatus since the drought between chapters 6 and 7, here is my question to you: When you first started reading this story, what was the most recent chapter? Like maybe you were able to read all the way up to chapter 11 before you had to wait for me to publish the next chapter or whatnot._

_I can't promise that I'll be back to my weekly updates, but I will certainly try!_

_I love your feedback, they make me happier than chocolate (and dude, that's saying a lot)_

_Until next time!_

_slavetothepen_


	24. Chapter 24

_Hello again! Wow, a month already? But hey, good news everyone! It's finals week, which means I'll be on break after this! I had no final today, so I thought I would post the chapter I had written in my notebook._

_On a side note: I almost geeked out at Target a week or so ago because I was standing in the checkout line and I looked over at the refrigerator's with all the sodas and whatnot. And what do I see? Some energy drink called _Venom_, and two of the flavors, I kid you not, were called Taipan and Black Mamba XD but the last one wasn't King Cobra, it was Mojave Rattler or something like that. But it made me squee on the inside._

_The bad news: this semester I took a grammar class and it's all but ruined all fanfiction for me. Don't worry, I still loves me the fanfics, but I get super impatient with 'poorly' written works. Like even works that I previously adored, I go all grammar Nazi. And I'm sure some of you are reading this like 'um, slave, your grammar isn't that good either, you know...' but I digress. I'm just whining about everything right now lol_

_And to anyone that hasn't noticed, I started a new fic called _Murder at Diagon Morgue (_brownie points to anyone who can guess what mystery work the title references). I probably won't continue with more chapters on that until this fic is done, but I would love feedback on what you all think at my attempt at a mystery/crime fic. It's kinda like a 'CSI:Hogsmeade' type of deal, crime drama meets magic. And I made Neville the main character, so it should be fun!_

_Since this story has been going on for nearly a year, some of you have asked for a brief recap of the story...so here you go!_

_[insert Mark Harmon's voice] _Previously in Savior's Calling:

Desperate to overthrow the evil Serpent King, the outlawed Order of the Phoenix break into Castle Slytherin to steal an ancient text. A text which contains a spell to summon one who knows the secret to defeating the evil king; who of course is Harry Potter, barely 18 and hungry for adventure. Harry reacts oddly well to being pulled into another dimension, living from years of experience of being thrown curve balls, and reveals to the Order that not only has he killed Voldemort, they have already obtained a Horcrux (on accident).

Shortly after his arrival, Harry spots Hufflepuff's cup in a newpaper photo; but disaster strikes when Hogsmeade is under attack by Dementors. Needless to say, Harry rises to the challenge and shows the Order (as well as the Serpent King) just what he's capable of. When Harry uses a dark curse on Bellatrix "Black Mamba" LeStrange in order to get his hands on Slytherin's locket, he catches the eye of the Serpent King's twisted heir, Draco "Taipan" Malfoy.

Meanwhile in Cannonverse, Harry disappearance hardly goes unnoticed, and Auror's Weasley and Longbottom are on the job. When Hermione comes over with Teddy, she insists on helping the case, and with the unexpected up of Draco, the posse it brought to Darkverse, where they are ultimately united with Harry and Neville gets to finally speak to his parents and Tonks and Remus discover they're parents.

It doesn't take long for Harry and the gang to get right back on track for their Voldemort Vendetta as Harry hatches a scheme to get ahold of Hufflepuff's cup. A scheme which involves him starting a riot at the Serpent King's slave auctions and having the entire wizarding world think he's the next dark lord. This attack also results in Harry's first encounter with the Taipan, which is disturbing to say the least.

Shortly after this, Neville discovers that Narcissa Malfoy died in childbirth, resulting in Draco researching more about the event and discovering the location of Ravenclaw's diadem: in Narcissa "Lady Medusa" Malfoy's tomb in the Malfoy crypt. Draco, eager to prove himself to the Order and his unrequited love interest Harry, attacks the mission full force, ultimately saving Harry from an attack from the Taipan...so he thinks.

During his attack on Harry at the crypt, the Taipan gets a sample of Harry's blood, which he then has Severus Snape use to concoct a potion that leaves Harry bending to the will of Draco Malfoy. Too bad the Taipan didn't know that there were two Draco Malfoys, resulting in Harry trying to seduce Draco, to which Draco barely resists.

With Harry at the mercy of the Taipan's potion, Draco must once again embark on a dangerous mission, this time things don't turn out so well. He is captured by Snape and violently interrogated by the Serpent King and the Taipan, only to have the interrogation cut short when it is revealed that Harry was somehow captured. Desperate, Draco begs Harry to not let the enemy win, which releases Harry from the spell just in time to avoid being raped by the Taipan. Without his glasses, Harry manages to rescue a battered Draco and together they kill Nagini.

Draco is separated from Harry while they recuperate, which leads to some startling revelations, particularly from Neville, who not only encourages Draco to confess his feelings for Harry, but also has a mystery lover of his own. It is only when Harry comes to visit Draco that Draco decides to take his love life into his own hands and kisses Harry.

How does Harry take it? Find out in this chapter of Savior's Calling.

_Wow...so much for a brief recap lol! I think that's all I have to say...other than: Enjoy the aftermath of the kissies!_

* * *

Harry's mind had all but stopped working as he fell off the bed with Draco. Their bodies crashed to the floor, Harry all but pinning Draco under his body, the blonde's arms trapped between their chests and his legs confined to the tangled sheets. And, of course, Harry's lips smothering the paler man's own, keeping him from crying out for help. Harry could feel Draco's lips pulsing beneath his own as the muscles moved against each other. A warm wave of…something rippled through Harry's body, causing his eyes to widen. The time in which Harry could pass the kiss as an accidental brush of the lips had long since passed, yet he couldn't bear to pull away. Even when Harry so much as thought about pulling away, he could feel something tug him deeper into the comfort of Draco's warm lips…

'_What?'_ He sluggishly thought, the fog of his mind cut through by a single coherent thought, _'…I'm molesting Draco…'_

Horrified, Harry managed to pull back from the blonde until Harry was on his hands and knees, looking down at his victim.

Draco's lips were swollen and fiery red from their molestation, slightly parted as needy gasps passed in and out of his rosy mouth. His alabaster skin was dusted with a soft blush, just faint rouge on the apples of his cheeks. Long black eyelashes framed his stormy grey eyes as they opened, full of questions and uncertainty.

Harry panicked, unable to explain his actions, "I'm so sorry!" He blurted. Ignoring the look of –confusion?- on Draco's face, Harry helped him stand, "You aren't hurt are you?"

Draco perked a perfectly arched eyebrow, "No, of course not." He nodded slowly, "Why-"

"Let's head downstairs!" Harry interrupted, trying to keep from blushing, "I'm sure the others are up to something!"

Luckily, Draco agreed without further question, so the two made their way downstairs to the den, where everyone was huddled around the warm fireplace. It was oddly quiet when Harry and Draco entered the room, the occupants huddled in groups around copies of _The Daily Prophet._

"Did something happen in the news today?" Harry asked curiously as Draco moved towards Neville, who was holding a copy of the paper.

Sirius smirked, snatching James's copy from his hands, "A certain someone made his debut in 'His Majesty's Most Wanted.'" He showed Harry the front page.

Harry was honestly stunned when he saw himself on the front page, starring in his role as the instigator of the slave auction riots. There was even a picture of him in the king's box screaming "DEATH TO THE KING!" at the top of his lungs. He groaned at the sight of his photographed self, his face in manic rage, "Oh good grief…"

"Mmhmm…" Sirius chuckled, turning the paper back to himself, "And it makes for very interesting reading." He laughed, stepping up to the table while he cleared his throat. Harry smiled, sitting by his parents and reading along ads Sirius recited the article in his overzealous demeanor.

_**Death To the King: He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named the New Dark Lord?**_

_**The seasonal auctions started out as any other day for those on Diagon Alley. But from the moment a single man, heavily cloaked, took the stage in the middle of the auction, the day would turn to a very dark day indeed. The events following will go down in history as one of the most terrifying attacks in Wizarding history because of the vicious attempt on the lives of His Majesty and Prince Draco, resulting in the prince falling nearly three stories.**_

_**Regardless of the fact that both the king and the injured prince survived, this new menace brings the shroud of terror amongst of all. For many, it is hard to decide which is more horrific: the physical attack or the psychological war He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named rages against each citizen every day. Seeing a youthful looking boy boldly attack such a well respected man and hearing about his brutal attack on Duchess LeStrange (full story on C-4) has many wondering if anyone is as they seem.**_

_**It was only recently that some darker details about this troubled young man started to leak from Castle Slytherin. Among these include the theory that a demon walks among us wearing the skin of a youthful man who feeds on the souls of his victims to sustain his youth. But perhaps the most troubling theory that has reached this reporter's ears is the one that insists that his man isn't even alive at all.**_

_**Several sources in Castle Slytherin have come to the conclusion that the body many have seen terrorizing the Wizarding World is the reanimated body of an insurgent who died years ago. Some experts state that the attempt at necromancy went horribly wrong, instead of bringing the rebel back to live, the body took a life of its own, animated not by a soul, but by the Killing Curse which infects his core. Several witnesses say that the Killing Curse is in his gaze, and based on reports of this boy's eyes, there may be some truth to this.**_

_**But from the scars on his body, from dark magic we are told, to his unrestrained use of magic and violence, this reporter will not be able to sleep well until this dark wizard is destroyed. And from the reaction to those in Castle Slytherin, the king reflects the sentiment. (Continued on page A-3)**_

"Wait, what did they call me?" Harry asked, taking the paper from Sirius, "He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named? You've got to be kidding me…"

"I'm afraid not Harry," Hermione shook her head, "You're the new Voldemort."

"I must admit, it would appear to many that you are the enemy." Lily muttered, "It would be just like the Serpent King to use this to his advantage."

"Yes, well now everyone will want me dead because they think I'm out to kill everyone." Harry rolled his eyes, settling back into the couch, "So does this make all of you my Deatheaters?"

Draco glared, "Never again. No good can come from blindly following a single person." Clearly the Dark Mark on his arm was still a sore subject for the blonde.

"Alright, alright, that was in poor taste." Harry admitted, looking back at the paper, "Where do these people come up with this nonsense? I mean really- '_a demon walks among us wearing the skin of a youthful man who feeds on the souls of his victims to sustain his youth' 'the body took a life of its own, animated not by a soul, but by the Killing Curse which infects his core'_ these reporters should be writing novels or some other pieces of over sensationalized fiction."

"What do you think _The Daily Prophet_ is?" Sirius chuckled, flopping down in a large armchair.

Lily rolled her eyes, "Well the point is that you are a serious threat. And I'm proud of you for making the headline for your debut. I only got the below the fold article for my attempt at Lady Medusa…"

Harry nodded, oddly satisfied, "They're taking me seriously…"

Ron chuckled, "Yeah, they think you're a serious anarchist."

"Better than an attention seeking child." Hermione countered.

"Right." Harry smiled, "And at the moment, I don't care if the public fears me: as long as they stay out of my way, I can win them over later."

Sirius laughed, "Running for Minister, Harry?"

This caused Harry to wrinkle his nose, "I hate politics, they give me migraines. I just want to make sure that after Voldemort is gone, we don't have any rebels of our own."

Kingsley shook his head, "It still amazes me just how sure you are that we will succeed. It's refreshing."

"Well we've already gone farther than we ever have before." Bill said calmly, "We didn't even know about those Horcrux things before; we had been running in circles for years."

Draco cleared his throat, "Forgive me for being ignorant, but…what is the point of a Horcrux? I mean, I know that they're…pieces of soul but…" Draco paused, and Harry noticed that everyone in the room was staring at him. But the blonde continued, "But what is the point tearing apart a perfectly functioning soul?"

There was a murmur of agreement amongst the room, and to Harry's embarrassment, he realized that in his haste to start his vendetta against Voldemort, he never fully explained Horcruxes to the Order.

"That is a good question." Moody grunted, looking at Harry, "Care to explain yourself boy?"

Harry grimaced, "Don't call me boy." He muttered, leaning forward so his elbows rested on his knees. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his glasses pushed up to his eyebrows. "Alright, Horcruxes…well in order to split one's soul, they have to commit murder. Ending another living being's life rips the soul apart, so each Horcrux has a death connected to it-"

"Like Moaning Myrtle." Hermione added, to which Harry nodded.

"Yes, then I'm guessing a dark spell is used to lock the soul fragment into an object-"

"What spell?" Lily asked, leaning forward in fascination.

"I don't know! I've never done it!" Harry said, regrettably a bit more harshly than he had intended.

James furrowed his brow, "That's no way to speak to your mother, Harry."

"Right…sorry mum." Harry said awkwardly, the word foreign on his tongue. "Anyway, with his soul in various places, Voldemort only has a small piece of his soul in his body. So even if we killed him this very moment, he wouldn't be dead."

"How so?" Arthur Weasley asked, his arm around his wife tightly.

"Well," Harry sighed, "If his soul is still protected in his Horcruxes, his body could be regenerated using the fragment of soul from one of his Horcruxes. So, in a sense…"

"He's immortal…" Draco murmured. Solemn nods echoed the sentiment.

Ronnie sat stunned, "Bloody hell…that's why he's never seen us as a threat…"

"You never were." Hermione said softly, "But now we are, and we've almost got all the Horcruxes."

Ron nodded, "And one's already destroyed, thank Merlin…"

"Yeah…" Harry could see Draco's pensive look, "I have one more question…"

"Sure, ask away." Harry shrugged, stretching his arms over his head.

Draco tapped his finger against his chin carefully, "If…Voldemort has no intention of dying…why would he name an heir?"

Harry froze mid stretch, his stomach dropping through the floor. That had never crossed his mind… "I..don't know…"

Hermione wasted no time in jumping in with input, "Maybe it was for show?"

"That hardly sounds like Voldemort." Ron replied, his arm around his girlfriend, "He wouldn't share power or the limelight unless it would benefit him…" Harry nodded numbly in agreement, lost in thought.

"Perhaps he wanted to make sure his kingdom wouldn't fall apart if he died…" Remus suggested, "You know…just in case…"

Harry blinked, "Just in case…no, the Horcruxes were supposed to be just in case…" He furrowed his brow in thought, "Does anyone remember when the Taipan was named prince?"

Lily blinked, "I believe he was seven years old, it was in the paper and everything."

Draco paused, "I was only after Lady Medusa's death…"

"You think that has any importance?" James arched an eyebrow.

"Voldemort is obsessed with death," Harry was standing by now, his feet no longer allowing him to stand still, "If there's a death among those around him, you can bet that he's either the cause of it or he's benefitting from it."

"He could have used her death to make a Horcrux…" Bill suggested.

Harry shook his head, "Natural death wouldn't teat the soul apart." Harry rubbed his scar in morbid nostalgia. After a moment, his eyes widened, "The child…there's no word about the child. Voldemort could easily kill an infant-"

"Oh the irony of you saying that Harry…" Neville muttered.

"-the child was murdered to make this last Horcrux beside the ring."

"…no…"

Harry whirled around to face Draco, who had spoken against him, "No? What do you mean 'no'?"

The blonde stood slowly, "I mean there's no child buried in the Malfoy crypt. It was just…Lady Medusa buried under that date."

"Well if the child was killed the same day," Hermione reasoned, "Voldemort may have covered it up by claiming it was stillborn and they may not have buried the infant-"

"Forgive me if I seem rude Hermione," Draco interrupted, "But I think I'm a better Malfoy than you are. I've been in the crypt here before, and I remember quite vividly the tomb of Saphira Malfoy and her stillborn son, both buried in the crypt under the same date…I would bet my magic there is no infant in that crypt, not from Lady Medusa anyway…" The blonde seemed very adamant about this, something Harry wasn't used to seeing.

"So that means…the child is alive…" Molly whispered, holding her husband's hand.

Harry winded at the thought, "That hardly seems like Voldemort to leave an infant alive…it wouldn't surprise me if Lady Medusa faked the entire pregnancy."

"But I saw her," Lily said softly, "I saw her while she was pregnant."

There was silence for a moment while Harry tried to reason everything. But it was Hermione who spoke up, "…Did you touch her?"

Lily blinked, "No, I just got close enough to shoot a curse…"

Moody grunted, "A glamour perhaps?" There were a few nods of acknowledgement as the Order began to rethink things.

"But why?" Ronnie asked, "Why would she fake a pregnancy?"

Draco scoffed, "Voldemort could have easily commanded her to, she could have hardly disobeyed him."

Sirius ran a hand through his hair, "But why fake a pregnancy? Why would the Serpent King command her to do that?"

Harry gave a dark chuckle, "But better way to cover up a pregnant woman's murder than by blaming the child?"

"Alright, forgive me if I seem slow," James said slowly, "But what difference is it to us if Lady Medusa was killed in this pregnancy scandal or if she honestly died in childbirth?"

"Because," Harry said slowly, "it makes the difference between a tragic death and Narcissa Malfoy's murder being used to make the Taipan a Horcrux."

Harry could hear a few gasps and sputters, and he could see both Neville and Draco pale to an ashy pallor. Ron looked up at Harry in shock, "What would make you suggest that?"

There was a moment that Harry didn't want to say anything. It was tiring being the beater of epiphany all the time. But there was nothing for it. "The Taipan is a Parselmouth."

It certainly wasn't the reaction Harry was expecting. Usually it was his friends who took news well while the Order was taken aback. This time, however, the members of the Order seemed hardly fazed while Harry's friends nearly fell out of their seats.

"So what?" Bill asked, "This is common knowledge that the Taipan can speak Parseltongue. That's why he was accepted as the Serpent King's heir."

"That may be true." Draco intervened, "But I'm not a Parselmouth."

The Order stared at Draco intently. Ron, Hermione and Neville looked at Harry, hoping to catch up with the bespectacled war hero's train of thought.

"But Parseltongue is an ability that is inherited," Lily shook her head, "it can't be learned, can it?"

Harry sat down on the arm of the couch, "There's another way…a living Horcrux will have a connection to Voldemort, the piece of soul would hold all his being, including his ability to speak to snakes."

A chill ran through the room, and Harry could see Draco pale to the point that his lips were a ghastly white. It was only after several minutes passed that Hermione spoke, "So…we have to destroy the ring…and…we have to…"

Harry nodded gravely, "We have to kill the Taipan."

* * *

If there was one thing that infuriated the Taipan more than not getting his way, it was being ignored. Being silenced like a naughty child. How dare he? How dare his green-eyed pet disobey him? How dare that doppelganger bitch take what belonged to him as prince?

"I'm going to kill him._"_ He growled to himself, storming down the castle hallways, "I want that bitch's head on a platter…"

He glared at the gargoyle before him, storming up the staircase as it leapt aside. The prince hardly needed a password; he was no mere subject after all. His steps sounded in an angry march to the beat of his raging heart as he ascended the spiral staircase. The door wasn't locked, why should it be? Anyone who saw the need to knock knew better than to come in unannounced.

So the prince walked in without a knock.

The icy air of the room smothered the fiery rage of the prince's mind, the weight of the atmosphere choking out any words of hatred. It ever there was a time a soul could freeze…

The prince's steps were slow as he made his way deeper into the king's chambers, led by the emanating cold. He could see the hem of his king's robe from behind the large wing back chair, the epicenter of the icy atmosphere, despite the fact that the armchair was facing the roaring fire.

He could see the features of the Serpent King as he approached the fireplace, cool and pensive as the flames illuminated his dark features. Again the prince could feel an agonizing twist in his being as he knelt beside the chair.

"_Ssshe isss dead, Draco."_ The king said softly, using words only meant for the two of them to hear.

The prince shivered at his king's words, "_Who isss, your majesssty?"_

"_Nagini."_ The king said bluntly, gulping down the remnants of what was in his goblet before letting it drop to the floor.

The Taipan felt his heart tear in agony, _"No…" _he whispered, clutching at the Serpent King's robes, "_Tell me it'sss not true."_

"_I cannot."_

"…_how do you know thisss isss true?" _The blonde could feel tears welling in his eyes as he carried the burden of his own anguish as well as his king's.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed, _"Luciusss found her in the hallway, beheaded like ssshe was sssome wild animal put to the ssslaughter."_

Anger flashed through the Taipan's heart, burning his very being._ "That's horrible! Oh poor Nagini! Lovely, majessstic Nagini…"_ An animalistic wail tore itself from the prince's throat, ripped apart by despair while the king sat in brooding silence, "_Ssshe wasss better than all of them, ssshe wasss your mossst loyal follower…" _He rested his head in the king's lap, "_Ssshe wasss your queen."_

A bony hand rested on the prince's head, "_Ssshe wasss, my beautiful Nagini…ssso much lovelier than any human woman…"_

"_Ssso much ssso…"_ The Taipan sighed softly at the king's touch.

The dark king continued, lot in his memories, _"Ssshe wasss the closessst to a lover I ever had-" _

"_Ssshh…my king…let me mourn with you…let me sssoothe you…"_ The Taipan looked up at his king, his mentor and role model, "_Ussse me, your majesssty…"_

With that, the prince began to shed his human skin, his fine robes falling to the floor in a useless heap. Soft, supple skin gave way to glistening scales as his taut muscles wound their way around the Serpent King's arm. As he made his way up the king's arm, the Taipan's forked tongue could taste the despair and anger radiating from the man. His tongue tingled as it caressed the king's skin ever so slightly.

Voldemort raised the serpent prince to his eye level, "_Beautiful…"_

"_You made me thisss way, my king…"_ The Taipan rested contently around the king's forearm. Only one snake was worthy to rest around his neck…

"_I did…didn't I?" _There was a dark smirk on the king's face as he stood, carrying the Taipan, scales and all, over to the bed, "_But for now, thisss form only remindsss me of Nagini…your human form will be much more…sssuitable for…dissstraction."_

The Taipan took this as his cue to untangle himself from the king's arm, coiling on the black sheets of the master bed before his human form took shape once more; his alabaster skin a nearly ethereal glow against the darkness of the bed and his pale hair tricking many a victim into believing the prince to be an angel.

A dark angel perhaps.

The king's dark angel, to be precise.

Voldemort tilted the Taipan's chin up with a long bony finger, "_I let you have your toysss and play with the whoresss when you wisssh, but you know who you belong to, don't you?"_

The prince let the king guide his head back, arching his back as his throat was exposed, "_Of courssse my king, only yoursss…"_

Blood red eyes dilated, _"Indeed…"_

* * *

The knock on the door sometime later was not appreciated.

"What is it?" The king growled, refusing to move from his spot on the bed, let alone move the soft body drapped across him.

The door opened and Lucius Malfoy walked in, his hands holding a copy of _The Daily Prophet._ "Your Majesty, forgive me for the intrusion-"

"Just _get on_ with it, Lucius." The prince scowled, ignoring the fact he was naked in front of his father drapped over a man old enough to be his grandfather, "This better be good."

"I believe it is, my prince." The older Malfoy handed the paper to the Taipan, who then in turn read the article in question out loud to the king. "Who let this get out? Who dares believe that the king fears this man?"

Voldemort pondered the article while his heir vented his frustration on his father. Perhaps he could use it to his advantage…

"-I want no one harming the rebel weapon until I have him!"

"Harry."

The prince and Lucius blinked, "I beg your pardon, sire?" Lucius bowed his head, not daring to look at his king while he was nude.

The Serpent King sat up, causing the prince to move beside him, "I discovered from our hostage before he escaped that the rebel's corpse weapon is named Harry."

The younger blonde stared at the king, "…Well that certainly won't do, I will have to give him a different name when I break him.

"Yes, perhaps you will." Voldemort looked at the article, "But before I let you have him, I will have to torture him for what he did for Nagini."

"Of course, my king." The Taipan murmured, "Make him weep."

"But sires," Lucius was still bowed low to the floor, "How do we go about capturing this…Harry?"

Both the king and the prince stared at each other for a moment, gauging each other's thoughts and reactions.

The prince was the first to respond, "No doubt the rebels would fall for the same trick twice: use their overwhelming need to save others against them."

"That does seem like the best way, but how…" The Serpent King leaned back against the pillows of the bed. "What do you think, Draco?"

Draco sighed, "I'm sure the public would understand if we were to have a public display of mourning for Nagini…"

Lucius didn't dare interrupt the two monarchs during their exchange.

"Perhaps we accuse some helpless servant of being in league with him? A public display against the rebels, a message perhaps?" The king's evil mind was already churning in glee.

The prince smirked, "I have just the servant for the job. He's just a whore really, but I did use the same curse on him as…Harry used on Aunty Bella. We can claim that the dark curses are marks of Harry's kind..."

"You know…" Voldemort laughed, cradling the young man's jaw in his hand, "I love the way your mind works."

"_Not jussst my mind."_ The prince hissed lowly, a forked tongue flicking out faster than Lucius could notice.

The King smirked, "_No, never jussst your mind…"_

* * *

_Ahhh! What the hell did I just write? Sorry guys, I guess I decided to take your 'Taipan is Voldie's booty call' comments seriously. I guess the main reason I did this was because the relationship between The Serpent King and the Taipan was getting a little lopsided and I needed to put the Taipan back in his place. And no, the Taipan isn't some serpent creature/demon thing, he's just a Animagus, and he only shows his serpent form to Voldemort...it's a Parselmouth thing I suppose (except Harry wasn't invited to the orgy XD)_

_And the whole Lady Medusa thing breaks down like this: Draco knows that its uncommon for purebloods to have more children than needed and he remembers seeing a stillborn baby buried in the crypt (chapter 19 I believe) so he knows that if there was a baby, it isn't dead. This combined with Harry's knowledge that the Taipan is a Horcrux leads Harry to believe that it was Lady Medusa who was killed, regardless of if she was genuinely pregnant or not._

_But what did you think of the big reveal for the Taipan as a Horcrux? I know some of you saw that coming way back in like chapter 4 (to which I say kudos) but I still needed to have the characters figure it out, and Harry couldn't do that until he learned that the Taipan was a Parselmouth._

_So just because I'm bored, I'm going to put up a new poll based on the whole debate between Lady Medusa and whether or not she was really pregnant._

_And here's your question forum: When do you think Harry will calm down and really think about the kiss? And what will his thoughts be?_

_Well I hope this chapter will tide you over until the one year anniversary chapter!_

_Until next time!_

_slavetothepen_


	25. Chapter 25

_I know, I know, I **totally**__ missed the one year anniversary of _Savior's Calling._ I'm not going to try and make excuses as to why it took me so long to post (trust me, the list would be long) but I do want to thank you guys for all your loyalty. And yes, I'm talking to those people who would review the last chapter multiple times begging for updates. But to be honest, it was the people who were pleading that I not abandon the story that got me out of my funk._

_Let me tell you all now, I would never abandon a story. If worst came to worst, I would find someone to adopt the story; but that's not happening either ;)_

_I actually have the rest of the story planned out, so I'm thinking its got about 6-7 more chapters left._

_And to make it up to you guys, this chapter is perhaps my longest...and most badass. Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

There was a heavy silence among the Order after Harry spoke, merely stunned and dumbstruck expressions. Harry hardly blamed them, it seemed like a new discovery happened every time Harry spoke. And now they knew they had to kill the Serpent King _and_ his heir, the Taipan.

"Well that shouldn't be too hard."

Harry turned and looked at Draco, surprised by the blonde's optimism, and slightly confused as to his reasoning.

"Shouldn't be too hard?" Sirius asked, crossing his arms. "Have you gone mad? Do you even know who we're talking about?"

"Of course I do." Draco rolled his eyes in a very Malfoy-like manner, "Me."

"Yes, you." Ronnie replied, "Who's been the Serpent King's heir nearly all his life."

"And therefore," The blonde added, "has never lifted a finger in this war. If Harry's right about the Taipan being a Horcrux, then …Voldemort," Harry couldn't help but notice how Draco was still a bit unwilling to say 'Voldemort' after all this time, "wouldn't want him in the heat of battle. Unless I'm mistaken and someone has dueled him in a serious duel, but when I was captured the Taipan didn't try and curse me, he used his bare hands like he was a muggle."

Tonks shared a look with Remus, "What about at the crypt? He hardly used his hands to take out all of us."

"Yeah," Harry added, "But I'm sure anyone could hit a target while they're holding a _Lumos_ over their heads." There were a few groans from Alice and Lily at this, "And even then the worst injury was when Tonks cut her face on a branch."

"Please don't remind me." Tonks blushed at the memory. Remus wrapped an arm around the metamorphagus in a reassuring embrace.

"Does he know any real dangerous curses?" Draco asked, more curious than anything else. This was his evil twin after all.

Harry sighed, "He added _Sectumsempra _to his repertoire." At the horrified expressions of the Order, he cleared his throat, "I'm not sure how effective it was, the victim was standing still not even five feet away, and I couldn't see how deep the gashes were, I didn't have my glasses."

"Regardless of his magical prowess, we cannot rest until both the Serpent King and his prince are dead." Dumbledore said calmly, "As it stands, we are short one Horcrux besides the prince. Harry, what can you tell us about this last item; we need all our eyes open to look for it."

Harry sighed, trying to remember the ring that ultimately took the life of his headmaster back home, "It's a ring, it would have been the same one he wore while he was in school…" He looked at Dumbledore for confirmation. When the old man nodded in recognition, along with that blasted twinkle in his eye, Harry continued, "It has a black stone in it, and it's been passed down through his mother's family"

"Wait, his mother?" Ronnie turned green at the thought.

"Yes, well someone had to do it," Harry replied, "As much as we want to believe it, he didn't crawl out of some dark hole in the depths of the earth."

There was silence for a bit while everyone gathered their thoughts on the matter at hand. At least until the sound of tapping interrupted them.

"What on earth is that?" Hermione asked

Molly got up slowly, making her way to the window, "It's the bird that delivers _The Daily Prophet_ to us, but it's nearly sundown, it's far too late for Xenophilius to be sending us information."

Harry could see Hermione and Ron share a look, "Xenophilius Lovegood? I thought he ran _The Quibbler_?"

Arthur shook his head, "That was shut down years ago; The Serpent King couldn't have any rebel propaganda being printed. But what better way to stay connected than to have a spy in the place where the information flows?"

Harry had to admit, it did make sense, and it did explain how the Order was managing to get copies of _The Daily Prophet_.

"So if it's not a usual edition of _The Daily Prophet_, then what is it?" Ronnie asked, getting up to stand next to his mother.

Molly's hands were shaking as she read the paper. Unable to speak, she handed the paper to her youngest son. Harry could sense the tension in the room thickening, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that things were going to take a turn for the worse.

"What does it say Ronnie?" Bill asked, unable to take the tension.

"It says that the king is in mourning for his familiar Nagini, who was butchered during an attack on the castle," Ronnie shook his head, "And that there's going to be an execution tomorrow evening in Diagon Alley; that The Serpent King found a rebel spy in the castle who aided Harry and Draco in their escape…"

Hermione gasped, the thought of something so dark as an execution, "Oh no, who is it?"

The Order got quiet, and Harry could have sworn the room got colder…it was either that or the chilling events that caused the shiver to run down his spine. He could see the adults sharing several looks and Dumbledore furrowing his brow.

"What is it?" Harry asked, hating being left out on any information.

James was the one who spoke first, "We don't have a spy in the castle."

"We're bold, but not that bold." Sirius added, running a hand through his hair in distress. "They either have an innocent person condemned to die…"

"Or it's a trap." Lily said calmly, shaking her head, "You know it's more than possible, hell it's probably their plan, that this is a trap to lure Harry out."

The Order nodded in agreement, much to Harry's irritation. "What makes you think it's a trap?"

"Probably because they've done it before?" James replied, "Remember the dementors in Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah, but we got out of that fine." Harry insisted.

Lily rolled her eyes, "Yes, if you consider getting second degree burns all over your body 'getting out fine'."

Harry looked at Lily, "You're very sarcastic for a mother."

"I haven't been a mother for very long, I've been a rebel for longer." Lily nodded firmly.

James chuckled, "She has a point Harry."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," Sirius interrupted, "We still need to figure out what to do with this execution."

"We shouldn't go." Frank said firmly, "They're trying to play on our emotions to get us to act."

"Well it's working!" Harry stood, pacing the room, "I can't just let an innocent person die because of me!"

James grabbed Harry's arms, "Harry you have to think here! If you go, you'll be giving The Serpent King exactly what he wants!"

"I'm not going to let someone be killed because you don't want me to do what everyone expects from me." Harry had a firm voice, clenching his fists in determination, "No wonder you are losing this war, you refuse to take charge."

"There's a difference between taking charge and going on suicide missions," James looked at Ron and Hermione, "Aren't you going to try and reason with him?"

Ron looked at Hermione. Hermione looked at Ron. They both looked at Neville. Neville looked back at them. The three sighed deeply. "You have to understand," Hermione started, "Harry has never been the type to back down because the situation is dangerous."

"You're talking about the man who thinks fighting a Basilisk is a perfectly acceptable adventure for a twelve year old." Ron added, rubbing his temples.

Neville nodded, "You're better off giving him all the backup you can, otherwise he'll go on his own and it'll be a huge disaster."

Harry was torn between admiring his friends' support of him and annoyance at the fact they were so grudging about it. But in the end, it didn't really matter, they had made his point for him.

"They're right," He said firmly, "I'm going, now you all can decide whether or not you're coming with me. It's your choice whether or not you're going to fight this war."

James groaned, letting go of Harry reluctantly, "You really know just what to say in order to get what you want, don't you?"

* * *

If Harry had thought that the slave auctions were bleak, the setup for the execution was that much worse. All the shop windows were shut and locked tight, not a single sign or advertisement was seen, and it seemed like there was no one present in Diagon Alley.

Until one saw the giant pyre in the center of the square, complete with a tall pole in the center, staking through the pyre and standing tall above the buildings. Not to mention the legions of witches and wizards screaming for blood that accompanied it. Harry could feel his stomach churn at the mere thought of the mob surrounding them. As individuals, no doubt they were capable of rational thought and empathy, but as a group, they thought as one and they thought whatever Voldemort told them was the truth.

"This is just barbaric…" Hermione whispered, staring up at the 50-foot tall stake in the center of the pyre, "No one has been burned at stake since…since…"

"You can say it Hermione," Sirius said darkly, "Since the times of the Muggle Witch trials."

Harry kept his hood up over his face, clenching his fists tightly, "Voldemort seems to be referring back to his Muggle roots more the longer we're here. This isn't just an execution, this is a public display of power: to show that he's still in charge."

"Well it's working." Ron muttered, making sure to stay close to Hermione as they drew closer to the crowd. "I must admit, even though he's a downright bastard, You-Know-Who has a way of getting people to see his point of view."

Hermione and Harry gave Ron a stern look, "Don't start that again, Ron." Harry rolled his eyes, "If you must call him something, call him Tom. He's much less intimidating that way."

Those in the Order who were nearby nodded in agreement; others merely began to spread out though the crowd. Harry watched them as they disappeared, hiding in plain sight while he, Ron, Hermione and Neville kept their hoods around their faces. Draco had yet to fully heal, so he had been placed on Teddy Watch (which Harry suspected the blonde didn't mind as much as he claimed he did). But it was probably for the best, no need for someone to recognize Draco as the prince.

'_Then again, people recognize me as the evil dark overlord.'_ Harry thought sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest in an attempt to keep the cold away. It was only when Hermione rolled her eyes and cast a Warming Charm on him did he smile in thanks, grateful to have such a logical friend.

"You can defeat dark lords, but you can't have the sense to keep warm?" Hermione shook her head, muttering to herself.

"Yeah, well I hear there's going to be a fire…" Harry replied darkly, turning his gaze back to the pyre.

There were several minutes that the crowd stood in the streets, waiting for the events to begin. It didn't take long for their excitement to build when the first of many Deatheaters made their way around the pyre, underlings of course. The more important ones (specifically the Black Mamba and the King Cobra) walked up to the same elevated box seats that Harry had destroyed during the auctions. Of course Harry noted that neither of them took a seat, merely standing at attention, trying to look regal and menacing. If Harry hadn't been expecting a trap, he wouldn't have noticed the plain clothed Deatheaters that attempted to blend in with the crowd. Honestly, one would think that the permanent glare on some of their faces would have been a dead giveaway.

But then Harry saw the poor soul that they intended to kill, being dragged through the street despite his best efforts. It was only when he passed by Harry that the tell-tale scars of _Sectemsempra_ were visible, they were fresh wounds without a doubt. Harry knew that this was the same person that the Taipan had practiced his curse work on while Harry was in his "care". He also recognized him as-

"Oh Merlin…" Hermione gasped, "Is that…"

"Yeah," Harry nodded, gripping Hermione's shoulder as the weeping young man was restrained and levitated up to the top of the stake, securing him in place. This wasn't just an execution; this was a message to the Order, challenging them to show themselves. Harry didn't listen to the laundry list of crimes that the supposed spy had done, he knew none of them were true, and he just couldn't bear to hear the sobbing pleas of the accused trying to maintain his innocence.

"…thus the accused is condemned to die by fire this day…" The announcer's voice was a dull drone in Harry's ears, he wasn't saying anything that was important to- "And now his majesty the king and our beloved prince!"

Harry's heart stopped. He had expected a trap, but for Riddle to show up personally? If anything, it made things more complicated. They would have to work fast he realized as he turned his attention back to the royal box seats, where Voldemort was standing with the Taipan at his side. He could tell that there were confident that their trap would work. And, Harry supposed, it had worked after all, they had managed to bring him to the execution hadn't they?

"Almost a fortnight ago, the dark menace we have feared managed to infiltrate Castle Slytherin," Voldemort called out, his voice echoing throughout the square. Harry tried to keep calm at the ripple of gasps that followed the statement. He wasn't that scary was he? "While he was there, he made another attempt at the life of my young heir." A bony hand carded through the Taipan's hair¸ "As you all can see, he failed once more. Unfortunately, there was a life this menace did manage to take from us." More worried murmurs from the crowd, much to Harry's annoyance, "My beloved familiar Nagini was found brutally butchered the morning after the attack."

Harry shared a look with Ron and Hermione, trying not to roll his eyes. Voldemort, he realized, had a thing for theatrics.

"After some dedicated investigation, my men discovered that this vigilante was assisted by this man," Voldemort pointed a finger at the sobbing young man tied to the stake. Harry had to admit that Voldemort had a talent for making people believe what he told them. "Yet this dark vigilante is still at large, despite rigorous interrogations the spy refused to release the location of our greatest enemy, He-who-shall-not-be-named."

"He's joking right?" Ron whispered to Harry, "He's not seriously endorsing that ridiculous title is he?"

Harry looked at Ron from beneath his hood, "He doesn't know my name, its better he endorse a ridiculous title than a truly fearsome one, right?"

Hermione nodded, holding Ron's hand tightly as they continued to listen to Voldemort's rant.

"-And to add insult to injury, he dare show himself here of all places!" Harry didn't like the sound of that, "He is among us as we speak, hiding his face like the miserable shadow he is."

Harry could hear the frightened murmurs of the crowd, tearing off the hoods of anyone wearing a cloak, turning on the person standing next to them in a panic. He could see Neville's cloak being torn from him before his attackers decided that he didn't look like Harry.

"Oi! You!"

'_Son of a Blast-ended Screwt…'_

Harry turned his attention to the gruff looking man making a beeline for him. Of course it was then that Harry realized that he was the only one left without a hood. With an agitated groan, Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the man's hand, which was reaching for Harry's hood.

"I doubt you really want to do that." He said calmly, keeping his wand pointed at his accuser. He knew he had blown his cover, but honestly, his cover was blown anyways so there hadn't been much of a point in keeping his disguise.

In an instant, two Deatheaters had grabbed Harry from both sides, forcing his arms down to his sides. A hand pulled back Harry's hood, causing the crowds to gasp in horror and fright at Harry's face. As he was pulled through the crowd, their fear turned into rage and blind hatred.

"Bring him forward!"

"Burn him!"

"Traitor!"

"Rebel scum!"

It wasn't long until he was in front of the massive pyre and the elevated box seats that Harry looked up at Voldemort, who was smirking down at him. The Taipan, however, held his hand in front of his mouth. Most likely to hide the devious smile that was most likely on his face, Harry decided; a very terrifying thought indeed.

Harry spared a moment to look around the crowd, spying various members of the Order, still in disguise. The only person that had been 'captured' was Ron, who was struggling with a Deatheater of his own, because of Ronnie's wanted poster. Hermione and Neville stood together in the crowd, trying to keep from arousing suspicion, but Harry could still see Hermione watching him carefully. Making sure that no one else could see who he was looking at, he gave Hermione a curt nod.

The plan was still on.

"It's been a while since we've last met, menace." Harry turned his attention back to Voldemort, still holding the air of confidence, "I'll have you know that neither my followers nor myself are intimidated by your treasonous actions." The king leaned forward on the railing, looking down at him.

Harry snorted, "Oh really?" he said calmly, "Because there's an article of _The Daily Prophet_ that says otherwise."

Murmurs began to ripple through the crowd in an oh so familiar fashion, making Harry chuckle. He never thought he would see the day that he would use _The Daily_ _Prophet_ to his advantage.

"SILENCE!" Voldemort bellowed, glaring down at the people.

But Harry wasn't done yet, "I'm curious: when you couldn't catch me, did you really think it was necessary to execute one of your poor servants just so these people would still think you had the situation under control, or were you hoping that I would show up and you could show off your alpha-male bravado to everyone?"

If Harry had been up close to the king, he would have seen his red eyes narrow in distain while the Taipan watched in amusement.

"This execution is the death of a rebel spy-" The king began.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken your majesty, I've never seen that man before in my life." Harry shook his head, acting much more confident than he was. "Besides, none of the rebels would be dumb enough to get themselves caught."

Voldemort sneered, "And yet here you are."

Harry chose to ignore the various types of laughter he heard, especially the cackling of the Black Mamba and, he shuddered to think, the demonic giggling of the Taipan. Instead he smiled softly, "What makes you think I didn't want to be captured?"

A tense moment hung between the rebel and the king, both staring intently at each other. They knew the crowds didn't matter at that point; this was a showdown of pride.

"I'd say that only a fool would do such a thing." The king said slowly, wand gripped tightly in his hand.

There was a pause when Harry used to make sure the Order was ready, before deciding to speak, "Maybe I am a fool." He smiled brightly, unnerving several standing around him. _'Well at least they still fear me…'_ he thought dryly, "NOW!"

At once, every member of the Order began to fire every curse they could. Harry knew that Hermione's first victims had been the Deatheaters holding firmly onto him, he could feel their grips loosen as their stunned bodies hit the ground. Before both Deatheaters were on the ground, Harry was retrieving his wand and training it on Ron's attacker.

"_Incarcerous!"_

It wasn't until Harry was face down on the stone street, arms bound tightly to his sides, that he suddenly realized that he had been captured…again. Harry couldn't help but feel disappointed and frustrated with his situation. He was supposed to be the dreaded rebel menace; he should be the last person standing in this bloody free-for-all. He wasn't supposed to be the first bloody person to go down! He knew that his thinking was a bit brash and prideful, but he had been used to being the last man standing for quite some time and he was sure that he didn't like being the damsel in distress.

With all the effort he could muster, Harry managed to roll onto his back in frustration. It didn't take long for Harry to see the Taipan smirking down at him, wand in hand.

He really should have known it would have been the demented prince, he really should have.

While the Order fought against the Deatheaters, Harry could do nothing but watch as the Taipan _Apperated _from the royal observation box down to the fray, bending down over Harry's defenseless body.

"Did you miss me?" The blonde smirked, patting Harry's cheek, "You didn't think that I was going to let you get away from me that easily, did you?"

Harry flinched away from the touch, desperately trying to get away from the prince. At the very least, he hoped to get his wand or his hand in a good position to curse Voldemort's Horcrux.

The prince's grey eyes narrowed, making a point to crush Harry's hand under his foot, "The thing about wandless magic." He said softly, his voice a deadly calm monotone, "Is that you still need your hands." To further make his point, he put his weight on Harry's hand. Seeing the pained expression on Harry's face, he smiled a twisted grin, "You know, I've been meaning to learn the _Imperius_, I guess now I have my practice subject..._Harry_."

Harry's heart stopped. Had the prince heard him when he had said his name aloud? Fighting his look of shock, he steeled his expression, "Well you're in for a surprise." Harry said forcefully through gritted teeth, trying to wiggle his fingers.

To his surprise, or rather his chagrin, Harry noticed that the prince didn't seem bothered. "We'll see." He said softly, pointing his wand at Harry's face. Harry clenched his free fist in determination.

In a split second, the Taipan's confidence was replaced with a look of unexpected pain as he was pulled away from Harry. The other man blinked in surprise, until it had registered in his mind that Neville had pulled the Taipan off of him _by his hair_.

"Get away from him!" Neville shouted, putting himself between the prince and Harry. From his vantage point on the ground, Harry couldn't help but smile at the look on the Taipan's face.

"How dare you touch me!" The prince screeched at Neville, grabbing his wand.

Neville, to Harry's great joy, didn't flinch, "Don't make me curse you." He said calmly, getting into a fighting stance. The two blondes stared at each other, daring each other to make the first move. It didn't take long before the curses began to fly.

"_Incarcerous!"_

"_Protego!"_ Neville had no problem deflecting the curse, to Harry's embarrassment. Oh sure, Neville could deflect being captured, but Harry couldn't.

The prince narrowed his eyes, "_Confringo!"_

"_Protego!"_

"_Stupefy!"_

Neville ducked from the oncoming spell, stunning a bystander in the terrified crowd, before turning back to the prince. The Taipan, it seemed, didn't like it when his targets moved.

Grey eyes blazed in rage, "_SECTEM-"_

"_Expelliarmus!"_ Neville got a clear hit, sending the prince's wand flying into the air and into Neville's hand.

"Great work Neville!" Harry laughed at the sight of the defeated Taipan. Stunned, the prince finally realized that he was outmatched and quickly _Disapperated_. "Now that he's taken care of, get me out of here!"

There was a moment when Neville stared at Harry, ducking a suspiciously green curse that was sent at him, "Um…" Neville started, sending a stunning spell back at his attacker, "What's the spell for that again?"

"NEVILLE!" Harry shouted, "Are you kidding me? What kind of wizard are you?"

"I'm the wizard who just saved your arse, thank you very much" Neville replied, pointing his wand at Harry, "Let's try this…_Finite Incantartum."_

At once the ropes around Harry disappeared, giving Harry the chance to get back to his feet and in an attack stance, "Honestly Neville '_what's the spell for that again?'_ ?"

Neville rolled his eyes in response, throwing another spell at an attacking Deatheater. "I'm not the one who got hit."

Harry had to silently agree with Neville, though he had a feeling he wouldn't be living down that particular incident for quite some time.

* * *

"Ron!" Hermione had felt her boyfriend being torn from her the moment their hoods had been removed; the Deatheaters had recognized him from his wanted poster. Granted, it wasn't actually Ron's wanted poster, but the Deatheaters didn't care if Ron was Ron or if he was his dimensional twin…nor did she think they would understand.

Ron was desperately fighting against the Deatheater holding him, hoping to break free and join the fray. The Deatheater in question was holding Ron's wand and kept Ron's hand bound up tight.

"Unhand him!" Hermione shouted, rushing to rescue Ron, but careful not to get hit by any of the stray spells that were flying around the chaos of the street. On more than one occasion she had been forced to lunge out of the way of particularly nasty curses. The Deatheaters in this dimension didn't wear masks like they had in Hermione's world. Here they were proud to announce themselves as servants of the Serpent King. So Hermione could clearly see the face of one Lucius Malfoy, the King Cobra.

Malfoy smirked, "What a brave little girl, trying to save her little rebel boy." Ron clenched his teeth at the comment, but the blonde wasn't bothered by the resistance. "I suppose we'll be having a second execution tonight…"

"You sick freak!" Ron shouted, stomping on the King Cobra's foot with all his might.

The act of defiance backfired, the King Cobra jabbing his wand into Ron's side, "Perhaps a lesson is in order, rebel." He sneered, "_Crucio!"_

Ron didn't get the time to scream in pain because Hermione asked faster, "_Bombarda!"_

The King Cobra deflected the spell, but in so doing was forced to end his attack on Ron, "How dare you interfere, girl!"

"Touch him again and I swear I'll curse you to oblivion." Hermione shouted at him, gripping her wand so tight her knuckles were white.

In response to her threat, the King Cobra smirked, forcing a bound Ron to the ground and pointing his wand at Hermione, "We'll see about that." He said calmly. Hermione didn't say anything, waiting in silence for the duel to begin.

It didn't take long.

"_Crucio!"_

Luckily Hermione knew that it was better to dodge that particular spell instead of trying to deflect it. Her knees stung as they hit the cobblestone street, but she didn't have time for that, "_Stupefy!"_ She hissed, jabbing her wand in the direction of Malfoy.

"_Protego."_ The blonde said casually, flicking away the spell as if it were an insect. He smirked, "Foolish girl, do you even know who I am?"

"You're a downright bastard, if that's what you mean." Hermione muttered, "_Expelliarmus!"_

The blonde barely even sidestepped the disarming spell, raising his eyebrow, "_Bombarda!"_

Hermione barely managed to dive out of the way as the concussive curse destroyed the wall behind her. Unfortunately, a piece of stone struck Hermione's back, causing her to land on the ground much harder than she had intended. She groaned as she saw her wand skitter across the ground, out of arms reach. She looked up at Malfoy, who was standing over her with a sickening smirk.

"You know, you remind me of a mudblood servant girl I owned once." He said coldly, "She had the loudest screams…"

Hermione grit her teeth, fist clenching the dirt beneath her hand. She could feel the sandy grit of the dirt fall between her fingers and wedge under her fingernails. She knew that Malfoy was about a heartbeat away from killing her, if the sneer on his face was anything to judge by.

Like Hermione was going to take that lying down.

"_Aveda-"_

Hermione swung her arm, letting loose the coarse sand at the arrogant blonde's face. Malfoy's hands flew to his face in an attempt to shield his eyes. As the Deatheater swore and tried to wipe the dirt from his eyes, Hermione dove for her wand, pointing it at the blond.

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_ There was a satisfying _thud_ as Lucius Malfoy's body hit the ground, face down in the dirt. Trying to catch her breath, Hermione rolled the blonde onto his back with a firm kick to his shoulder. After a deep breath to calm herself, she stared down at Malfoy's cold eyes, "Don't call me Mudblood." She said firmly, kicking away his wand before turning to Ron, "Come on Ron, we need to help Harry." She muttered the counter curse at Ron.

The redhead stood quickly, gathering his wand from where Lucius had thrown it, "Bloody hell Hermione, that was wicked." He smiled at her, "I knew there was a reason I loved you."

"Love me later." Hermione huffed, shielding a nasty curse, "Where is Harry?"

Ron groaned, throwing a shield for Hermione, blocking a curse, "I think I found him Hermione." He grumbled, pointed quickly for Hermione to see.

The muggleborn witch turned her head to see where Ron pointed. After stunning another Deatheater, she sighed, "Damnit Harry…"

"No kidding," Ron added, "The man just can't leave Bellatrix alone, can he?"

* * *

"Now I've got you, you necromancy freak!" Bellatrix cackled, throwing curse after curse.

Harry ducked to avoid a cutting curse, "Well I guess this means the Deatheaters believe the inferi theory." He muttered.

Neville nodded, shooting a stunning hex back, "You look good for an inferi Harry."

The three dueled for quite some time, not allowing any assistance from either side. Harry couldn't help but wonder just how long they could last without someone getting killed.

Screams filled the air, turning Harry's attention from the duel. In the chaos of the fray, the pyre had been set ablaze. Harry could see the tell-tale beasts of the fire, causing his heart to stop.

_Fiendfyre_

The fire was consuming the massive pyre quickly, and it was only because of the tall stake, towering high above the fire, that the poor man at the center of the fire still lived. But it wouldn't be long before the fire reached him, and Harry would be damned if he let an innocent person die for him.

"Harry, look out!" Jerked from his musings, Harry barely avoided a nasty looking curse.

He turned to look at Neville, "I have to save him," he called, pointing up to the poor man, "Can you handle her by yourself?"

Neville looked at Harry, then turned back to Bellatrix, clenching his wand tightly, "Oh yeah," He said calmly, not looking back at Harry, "I can handle her."

If the situation hadn't been so dire, Harry would have found it amusing that Neville had taste for vengeance after all. But there was no time for silly musings; Harry had to find a way to save an innocent man's life. And Harry only knew of one way to escape _Fiendfyre_.

Running as fast as he could, Harry found the familiar window for the Quidditch shop. There were no advertisements or posters for the local Quidditch team, but Harry didn't care about that. All he needed was the large window in front.

"_Reducto!"_ He cried, shattering the window with little to no effort. The glass was still falling as he climbed inside and grabbed the first broom he saw. A Firebolt, oddly enough.

Again Harry didn't have time to muse, he needed to get back to the fight. Mounting the broom quickly, Harry flew over the heads of the other combatants, aiming for the growing fire and the poor soul caught within it.

Over the clamor of the chaos, Harry never heard the curse that hit him, but he sure felt it. The broom was thrown off course, crashing into the stone street with enough force to dislodge Harry and throwing the wizard's wand across the alley, leaving Harry sore and disoriented.

"You're finished." Harry heard a familiar voice boom. Turning his head, he could see Voldemort standing in the royal box, pointing his wand at Harry. "We will not let you win."

Harry, torn between being impressed by Voldemort's acting skills and annoyed at his insistence of amplifying his voice, rolled his eyes, "What nonsense are you spewing, old man?"

Even from where he was, Harry could see the annoyance flicker across Voldemort's face. Harry took the moment to try and gather his bearings. His wand was nearly 20 feet away, and the broom was nowhere to be seen. Glancing over at the pyre, he could no longer see the screaming man condemned to die.

Damn. It was only after spying the expressions on his friends' faces that Harry accepted that it was time to cut their losses and flee before someone got killed. Now all he had to do was get away from Voldemort.

Voldemort was speaking again, as if Harry could ignore the rumbling voice of the Serpent King, "You're defeated. I will not have you terrorizing my people, _Harry."_

It was only when Voldemort's loud voice stopped that Harry noticed that the fighting had stopped. No more curses or screaming or people running every which way, they were all just staring at Harry and Voldemort. He couldn't imagine how Voldemort had learned his name, but he could imagine why he used it in such a public manner. Who in their right mind would be scared of the dark lord Harry? No one, and Voldemort knew that. Harry also knew that his friends would need time to escape, and Harry was the only one who could by that time.

'_Well,_' he mused, _'I guess I better practice my dark lord impression.'_

And so he laughed. And laughed. And laughed as loud as he could, casting a quiet '_sonorus'_ so his voice was also amplified. He was surprised just how much he could laugh like an insane man. His laughing also proved to get the attention of everyone in the Order, even if they were slightly concerned.

As his laughter died off, Harry stood, looking up at the slightly amused Voldemort, "I didn't realize we were on a first name basis…_Tom._"

Harry could only imagine Hermione rolling her eyes, or perhaps James and Lily's look of horror or Ron trying not to laugh. He didn't dare look away from the very annoyed look on Voldemort's face.

"How _dare_ you!" Voldemort sneered, clenching his wand. Harry noticed that the Taipan was back behind the Serpent King, watching in fascination.

"How dare I?" Harry asked, his voice echoing off the buildings of the alley, "I dare because I know you. I know you better than any in your court or castle, I know you better than your beloved Deatheaters, and I wouldn't be surprised if I knew you better than your precious prince."

It was a bold accusation, but it was most likely true. The only person who might know Voldemort better than Harry would probably be Dumbledore.

The Serpent King was livid, "You know _nothing!_"

Harry smirked, looking up at the king as he inched his way back to his wand, "I know _everything_, you son of a muggle." Harry couldn't help but notice that the Taipan blinked in surprise, looking at Voldemort, "Oh? What is this? Has the mighty Serpent King, hero to the purebloods, neglected to mention that he himself is no more than a halfblood? The son of a mere muggle?"

He knew he was begging for a _crucio_, but he needed to stall. And cause a commotion, and judging by the looks being shared amongst the crowd, it was bound to happen soon.

"You vile creature, your lies have no power here." Voldemort shouted and, if Voldemort had been fully human, Harry could imagine he would have been the same shade of purple that Uncle Vernon tended to have.

"Call me a liar all you want, you know that I speak the truth." Harry said calmly, not letting the activities of the Deatheaters distract him from Voldemort. "It must be frustrating, not knowing your enemy when I know everything about you."

"You know nothing." Voldemort repeated. Harry noted the strained agitation in the Serpent King's voice, seeing the calm nerves of Voldemort fraying.

Good.

"I know your fears." Harry continued, closing the gap between him and his wand.

"I doubt that." Was the cold reply.

"You fear death." Harry claimed boldly, standing in front of his wand, trying to shield it from Voldemort's view. "And so you fear me." Harry took a deep breath, placing his hands behind his back.

It was Voldemort's turn to laugh, causing the Deatheaters to join in. Harry noticed that he had quite a while before he achieved the same maniacal laughter as Voldemort. Then again, Harry suspected that not having a nose helped.

Voldemort sneered down at Harry, "Are you death then?"

Harry ignored the condescending tone in Voldemort's voice, keeping a straight face, "I am _your_ death." He said calmly, "_Accio wand!_"

At the same moment Harry felt the smooth holly wand, Harry he could see Voldemort raise his own wand, rage on his face.

'_Well'_ Harry mused, reacting with the spilt second that he had, _'here we go again.'_

"_Aveda Kedavra!"_

"_Expelliarmus!"_

To Harry's relief, the beams hit each other dead on, just as expected. Or at least just as Harry expected; not that Voldemort knew what was going on. Harry liked knowing that he had the advantage for once. It felt good. As the golden web grew, Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye that Hermione and Ron shared an expression of both awe and horror. He realized that for all the adventures that they had shared, Ron and Hermione had never witnessed the joining of the brother wands. No one had. And now everyone was standing around like idiots instead of getting away safely.

"Run, you idiots!" Harry shouted at the Order.

The effect was instantaneous. Both Order members and Deatheaters sprung to life, firing curses at one another. Harry sighed with relief as he saw members of the Order disappearing using the Portkeys they had (because honestly, Harry wasn't dumb enough to believe that Voldemort wouldn't use Anti-Apparition wards in his trap), turning his attention back to Voldemort.

"Not used to not getting your way, are you Tom?" Harry shouted over the dueling curses, "Makes you feel weak doesn't it?"

Voldemort glared down at Harry, trying to will his curse to kill Harry, "I'll destroy you…" Harry could almost hear the snakelike hiss in the Serpent King's voice.

Harry grit his teeth, "I really doubt that. I'm really difficult to kill."

Over the sounds of the dueling curses, Harry could hear the sounds of struggling and curses being fired. Sparing a glance over his shoulder, Harry could see none other than Neville, still in his vendetta duel with Bellatrix. Harry groaned, this made things complicated, "Neville!"

Neville didn't dare take his eyes off Bellatrix, so his back was to Harry, "Yeah Harry?" He called out, blocking one of Bellatrix's curses.

Harry bit his lip, the strain of keeping his wand connected with Voldemort's was wearing on him. He braced himself, looking at Voldemort, then at the angry looking killing curse, then at Bellatrix and Neville. Harry hoped he didn't regret his actions… "DUCK!"

In the same instant that Harry yelled, he pulled his wand away from the golden web, cutting off the connection and leaving no resistance for Voldemort's _Aveda Kedavra. _Time seemed to slow down as the sickly green curse hurtled down its path; Harry lunged out of its path, hoping that Neville had the same reflexes.

Harry had barely hit the ground when the light from the curse faded; the curse had found a target. Harry looked up, his heart beating out of his chest as he saw both Neville and Bellatrix on the ground.

If ever there was a time that Harry had ever felt guilty for someone's death, it was then. How could he have been so foolish as to allow the killing curse to hurtle towards someone's back? How could he have thought that Neville had the same reflexes as his? How could he have thought that anything he had done had been a good idea?

But after what seemed like an eternity to Harry's racing heart, Neville slowly got to his feet.

Bellatrix didn't.

Harry didn't need to have a soul connection with Voldemort to know that the Serpent King was furious. But to be honest, he didn't really intend to let Voldemort get another shot at him. He was already sprinting towards Neville by the time the crowds had gotten over their shock. Neville had his hand in his pocket, around the Portkey no doubt, and Harry wasted no time in lunging for the other man. He could almost feel the killing curse strike where he had previously be standing as he collided into Neville just as he spoke the code word for the Portkey.

* * *

The momentum of Harry lunging for Neville continued, forcing both of them to crash into the wood floor of the headquarters. There was a thin layer of dust that was displaced by their landing, and Harry had somehow managed to land on top of Neville. But Harry honestly didn't care, he was just glad that he wasn't dead or captured by the Deatheaters.

Harry groaned softly, letting his head fall onto Neville's chest, "That was a bloody disaster." He mumbled, too exhausted to even move himself from his place on top of the other boy.

Neville nodded slowly, laying back on the floor, "It wasn't so bad…" he reasoned. Leave it to Neville to try and be positive. Then he smiled dryly, "So who do you think will get the credit for killing Bellatrix?"

* * *

_What? She killed Bellatrix and it wasn't in the final battle? How can it be? Easy, its one less Deatheater that slave has to write for during that chapter._

_I really hope you guys liked that chapter, I honestly was writing it over the months that I was gone (it was a slow process, but I worked hard)_

_Alright, question time! Who do you think was the servant that the Serpent King had framed as a spy? Yes its a character you might know, but its not an obvious choice. If you guess correctly, I will contact you and tell you so...and maybe give you some sneak peaks ;)_

_Well I hope I don't take so long for the next chapter!_

_Until next time,_

_slavetothepen_


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